UH athletics can bypass Board of Regents on certain contracts

University of Hawaii men’s basketball coach Eran Ganot’s contract is being extended to five years, but future deals of that length will no longer require Board of Regents approval.

The board voted unanimously Thursday to give the school’s president the power to sign off on deals of five years or less, provided the amount does not exceed an annual salary of $500,000.

Ganot’s contract, which had been at three years, is now expected to run through the 2022-23 season and give him the department’s longest active contract. It had a built-in provision to raise his salary to at least $300,000 beginning April 18.

Ganot, who was hired in 2015, got a two-year extension in 2016 and a one-year extension seven months ago.

He was 17-13 this season and 8-8 in the Big West. Overall, Ganot is 59-35 overall (29-19 in conference) and led UH to a school-record 28-6 finish in 2015-16, the Big West Conference championship and the program’s first NCAA Tournament victory.

Men’s volleyball coach Charlie Wade has also agreed to a two-year extension to run through July 31, 2021, athletic director David Matlin said. Wade, whose team went 19-8, had been operating on a deal that was to have run through July 31, 2019.

Matlin has said he is still at work on a multi-year extension for baseball coach Mike Trapasso, whose team finished 27-24. Trapasso’s agreement was scheduled to expire April 30, 2018.

Jeff Portnoy, who chairs the Regents’ Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics said, “I don’t believe Regents should have a role in whether or not a coach gets a contract, how long the contract is or what the coach makes in that contract. I think you hold the people responsible for those decisions (president, chancellor or athletic director) accountable.”

Portnoy said the previous policy “was, I think, a knee-jerk reaction to the huge buyout for the football coach (Greg McMackin).”

McMackin had a five-year contract worth $1.1 million annually. It cost UH $600,000 to buy out the final year (2012).