Contract details revealed for new Kentucky WBB head coach Kenny Brooks
The University of Kentucky has made a serious investment in the women’s basketball program. By hiring Virginia Tech’s Kenny Brooks, not only did UK bring in a proven winner, but they did so by pulling him out of his home state and away from a program he led to its first-ever Final Four just a season ago.
How did UK pull this off? For starters — money.
UK published the full contract details for Brooks on Thursday, the same day that he was officially introduced as the ninth Kentucky women’s basketball head coach by athletic director Mitch Barnhart. Brooks has signed a five-year deal with the Wildcats that will see him earn $7.7 million through 2029. The 55-year-old has a base salary of $400,000 each year with significant money on top of that through media and endorsements.
Below is Brooks’ total year-by-year salary at Kentucky.
- Year 1: $1.3 million
- Year 2: $1.4 million
- Year 3: $1.5 million
- Year 4: $1.7 million
- Year 5: $1.8 million
With an average of $1.5 million per season at Kentucky, Brooks immediately becomes one of the highest-paid coaches in the country. If we take Brook’s 2024-25 salary of $1.3 million and compare it to the rest of the country for the 2023-24 season, he would rank ninth in the nation, According to Front Office Sports.
Brooks’ average salary of $1.55 million would rank him seventh in the country in 2023-24 and the third-highest in the SEC behind only LSU’s Kim Mulkey ($3.26 million) and South Carolina’s Dawn Staley ($3.1 million).
Other incentives are baked into Brooks’ contract, including minor bonuses ($25,000) for academic achievements and tickets for men’s basketball, women’s basketball, and football home games. Brooks is set to make an extra $75,000 in the event that Kentucky wins the SEC regular season title and another $50,000 if the Wildcats win the SEC Tournament. There are NCAA Tournament incentives, as well, which are listed below.
- Sweet 16 appearance: $75,000
- Elite 8 appearance: $150,000
- Final 4 appearance: $250,000
- National championship appearance: $500,000
This investment in Brooks, along with a renovated Memorial Coliseum that is set to debut in 2024-25, is proof that Kentucky and Barnhart are serious about building Kentucky WBB into something special.
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