The University of Hawaii will not wait for the results of an ongoing NCAA inquiry and is preparing to announce a three-year contract extension for men’s basketball coach Gib Arnold, officials confirmed.
On top of a guaranteed one-year rollover for a 20-win season in 2013-14, the deal will take Arnold through the 2017-18 season. There is also a stipulation that he could earn an additional year if he meets one of six as-of-yet unknown "performance benchmarks" during the new contract.
Athletic director Ben Jay said Arnold would also receive a "slight bump" in salary. Arnold currently is paid $344,000 per year plus bonuses for feats like attendance benchmarks and team autograph sessions.
The contract, which requires only the signature of Manoa chancellor Tom Apple, could be announced as soon as this week, UH officials said.
When asked about the contract, Arnold gave this statement to the Star-Advertiser: "I appreciate the commitment that UH has made to its men’s basketball program. My family and I love Hawaii and I love working at UH. It is an outstanding University. Chancellor Apple and athletic director Ben Jay and I share the same goal of producing champions on and off the court. I am grateful for their belief in our program. I can assure all UH fans that my staff and I will relentlessly continue to build a program they can be proud of."
Arnold is among a dozen head coaches, including baseball coach Mike Trapasso and men’s volleyball coach Charlie Wade, whose extensions are being recommended.
The contracts, which have been in the works for nearly a year while language uniformity was being ironed out, have all been agreed to in principle.
The men’s basketball program has been under NCAA investigation since March and Arnold’s last contract expired July 1, but under the terms of the deal in place at the time, he was to receive an automatic one-year extension for having won 20 games in 2013-14. UH was 20-11 and the school would not have been obligated to move on Arnold’s contract until July 1, 2015.
But Jay said, "That (NCAA announcement) can still be sometime away and I’ve got to get a coach signed so it doesn’t impact our recruiting."
Jay said all coaches will have language in their contracts dealing with penalties for NCAA violations.
Jay said contracts will have newly standardized language regarding bonus provisions. "They will all focus basically on competitive achievements and academic accomplishments," Jay said.
Arnold is 72-55 overall through four seasons at UH.
