Ganot’s contract extension needs to be settled soon
DARRELL MIHO / FEB. 6
Head coach Eran Ganot watches the game against the Cal Poly Mustangs on Feb. 6 at Mott Athletic Center.
The national letter of intent signing period for men’s basketball recruits ended Wednesday and now the University of Hawaii can get on to collecting another signature.
That of its head coach, Eran Ganot.
Ganot and his immediate supervisor, athletic director David Matlin, were scheduled to sit down this week on a number of items, including a contract extension and raise for the Big West Coach of the Year.
An issue, we are told, is the length of that extension. Ganot has told boosters he wants three years added on. Matlin has been offering two.
The prudent path, if you are UH, with an expensive and extensive history of buying out contracts, and somebody coming off his first season as a head coach, is two years.
That would fairly address not only the record-breaking 2015-16 season but the 2016-17 campaign of an NCAA postseason ban currently hanging over the program.
It would, in essence, have Ganot operating on a four-year agreement since he still has two years remaining from the initial three-year deal signed last year when he took over.
A three-year extension, meanwhile, means a five-year deal and contracts of more than four years usually require Board of Regents approval. The last UH coach to have more than a five-year deal was Dave Shoji.
If it lands in their laps, you have to wonder how keen the board would be to endorse that long of a term in the wake of the millions of dollars in buyouts UH has forked over in recent years: Gib Arnold, Norm Chow, Greg McMackin, Bob Nash etc.
Especially since Ganot’s resume is as a single-season head coach.
It was a terrific year to be sure going 28-6, but a major component was championship-capable players inherited from his predecessors. The hope is that Ganot will assemble his own title contender, but, in the absence of a track record with his recruits, hope is all that it is right now.
Four years is enough for UH to demonstrate a commitment and should be ample time for Ganot to construct his own title contender in the Big West Conference, where UH has the best arena, biggest crowds and most resources.
The financial side should be less of a hang-up. Ganot, who earned $225,000 in 2015-16, already gets a $7,500 raise that was built in to his contract and there are indications an added bump will take it beyond the contracted $232,500.
The length of contract looks to be a recurring issue. Not long after Ganot agreed to a three-year term with UH last April, reports surfaced that he wanted to revisit the deal in hopes of adding a fourth year. But the school wasn’t willing.
Seven months later the new head football coach, Nick Rolovich, successfully negotiated a four-year deal. But Rolovich’s trade-off was in up-front cash, where his $400,008 salary ranked last in the 12-member Mountain West Conference in base salary and was just above the minimum ($392,142) of the salary scale for the position at UH. The men’s basketball minimum was $185,000.
Win and the extensions are sure to follow.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
27 responses to “Ganot’s contract extension needs to be settled soon”
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With our experience of coaches no extended contracts please.
With all of the disgraceful cheating and the penalties we face next year, he needs to be paid as a high school coach. Not more.
Didn’t realize Ganot was responsible for the “cheating and the penalties.”
He has to live with the sins of the Punahou dude. I would not pay Ganot much. Lots of people want his job.
As far as recruiting ranking for 2016, UH isn’t even on the board nationally or for Big West teams as of right now, meaning we are tied for the bottom teams somewhere. http://247sports.com/Season/2016-Basketball/CompositeTeamRankings?Conference=Big-West http://247sports.com/Season/2016-Basketball/CompositeTeamRankings
And the worst teams are all tied at 150th place with UH not even showing up there.
yup
P sports did you expect top 25?
Agreed, seems very reasonable. It was a great year and it seems Ganot did a great job, but with someone else’s players who in the year prior, was close to the dance. If Ganot wants to walk because of a fifth year, there is the door.
As Ferd pointed out, National Letter of Intent day closed yesterday with no “BIG” news. UH lost 75+ points per game with the players that left the program, many early. None of Ganot’s front line recruits averaged double figures and only 1 new guard has done so. Most of the incoming players averaged between 1 (Allen) and 4 points a game. This means that UH has only slightly more than 1/2 points per game coming in than it used to. Early predictions are that UH will be lucky to have a winning season. ” after recording 70 wins over the past three seasons, the Warriors might be lucky to win 50 percent of their games in 2016-17.” If you can’t recruit, you can’t win. Too early to talk extension as this is year to prove to us that he can coach. He inherited a 20+ win team that just was 1 game short of the Championship and all those players except 1 have bailed. Prove he can win first before you even consider an extension otherwise we will be in the morose of buying out coaches and complaining about the deficit.
Could you recruit with a ban hanging over your head? Especially JC guys who only have 2 years.
He wont stay at UH much longer. Another school will offer him twice what he makes at UH and he will leave. Who wouldnt? He has his family to take care of.
Money and commitment speaks loud and UH and Hawaii will never be competitive by paying low wages for their cosches.
Does UH have the money? Is mr Kawamoto helping the cause by supporting UH and buying season tickets ? Everyone pony up time !
I am season ticket holder and a booster club donator…
A booster? Obviously your gang has no clout and Kala.
Jeez, I guess Ganot didn’t think that 7 so-so guards are enough, he just wasted another scholarship on a Canadian transfer who averaged only 6 pts a game. If Larry Lewis signs as rumored, that’ll make 9 guards and only about 2 scholarships left. Why waste all these scholarships on JUCOs and transfers? How do you expect to build a team without good High School recruits?
If you’re talking about Garrett, he played at Canada College in Northern California, and averaged 15 points. McInnis says he’s a walk-on, not a scholie player.
Wasn’t Pope Benjy’s recruit, or am I thinking of another guy. Did UH/Ganot offer Pope and the Rice 7-footer? Just asking since your track record for accuracy isn’t very high.
I do agree … a lot of guards so far.
So, we should give an extension and a raise to an unproven Coach who has been out-recruited by Chaminade and who will have a hard time against them? 3-star recruit Austin Pope who rejected Ganot is now at Chaminade and is the scorer UH badly needed, “averaging 12.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game while shooting 46.5 percent from the floor. He also shot 31.4 percent from 3-point range although he was 8-for-19 from long distance in his last five games of the season.” That’s not all, a 7 foot center that Ganot recruited also choose Chaminade over him, “center Nate Pollard will join the Silverswords for the 2016-17 season. Pollard is a transfer from Division I Rice University where he played for two seasons. At 7 feet 2 inches, he is one of the tallest players in program history and the first Silversword 7-footer since Mamadou Diarra (2009-11). Pollard played 28 career games for the Owls, 25 during his freshman season in 2014-15 . He made one start with 17 points and 28 rebounds with five blocks that season.” And UH doesn’t have any centers on its roster, still.
They’re at Chaminade because they couldn’t qualify to get into UH.
I’m amazed that this was not done sooner! If I was Aran and someone like San Diego St. or some other fish in the pond comes along, SEE YOU HAWAII! Just like June Jones, you don’t know how to take care of those who led you to greatness, you don’t deserve them! Get on the ball Matlin! Go Warriors!
Matlin dont rush the gun stick to the two years. Dont let guys come in unproven and rob the house. He can coach but can he recruit? Maybe. Wait till he has shown he can hire recruiters or do it well himself.
Wahine Basketball just added another Asst. anybody knows who left?
Ganot has proven his dedication and expertise, transforming a disgraced program into a top level team. He is also one of the lowest if not the lowest paid college basketball coach performing at this level, and will likely still be relatively low paid even with a negotiated raise. A 3 year extension (total 5 year contract) is a reasonable request and deserves serious consideration. If UH drops the ball on this one, then it deserves what it gets.
So what’s new. UH is a fumbler.
Geez UH, don’t screw this one up
Need to get team APR up. Recruiting for this season is a question till we see them perform on the floor. Matlin should offer something fair that the school can afford. Two year with a roll over if he hits goals set by Matlin.
Pump the breaks. Remember he stepped in to a challenging situation….with great players. Let’s see how he does with his own players.
C’mon, let’s not replay this tired, old recording again. Once Hawaii gets a decent coach, they nickel-and-dime them, until all of the goodwill evaporates, and the first “wind” that comes along carries them away. How soon the first NCAA Tournament victory ever is forgotten – or at least not appreciated. Give Coach Ganot the benefit of the doubt; he will need at least 3 years to re-build the Hawaii basketball program, after the sanctions anyway.