In the first example of University President Lariviere’s promised transparency, the athletic department released new basketball coach Dana Altman’s contract to the media immediately after his press conference Monday afternoon.
In an unusual event, interim athletic director Lorraine Davis made a show of pulling out Altman’s letter of intent and signing it along with Altman and President Lariviere.
“I have a notice of intent here with me that I would like to execute,” Davis said during the conference. “This is an offer of letter of intent between Dana Altman and the University of Oregon. I am making this offer, to Dana Altman, and I will ask him to accept and sign this offer.”
This tongue-in-cheek exchange follows numerous media outlets recently calling out the University for not having a signed paper contract for former athletic director Mike Bellotti. The Oregon Department of Justice is now investigating the matter.
Altman’s letter of intent itself is an interesting document detailing his seven-year, $1.8 million contract. There are numerous incentives, including yearly incentives for performance that can add up to $400,000 and academic incentives of $120,000.
For Altman’s performance incentives, he would receive $20,000 for earning a NCAA Tournament bid, and for each win in that tournament he would earn an amount, starting at $7,500 for the first round. For winning a national title, Altman would get a total of $295,000.
If Oregon were to win the National Invitation Tournament, Altman would get $20,000.
For incentives related to the Pacific-10 Conference (which Altman slipped and called the Big Ten on first reference), he would get $5,000 for fifth place, $8,000 for fourth, $10,000 for third, $15,000 for second and $30,000 for first place. And if his team were to win the Pac-10 Tournament, that’s an extra $30,000. Altman would also receive $25,000 if his team were so lucky to win both the regular season and tournament titles.
Altman’s contract also has a big academic incentive program. He was known at Creighton for graduating his players and having them on honor rolls, and there is hope that he will continue former head coach Ernie Kent’s progress in academics. For graduation rates, he will get $5,000 for a rate better than 65 percent, and $10,000 for a rate better than 75 percent. He would also get an incentive for placing in the top five in the Pac-10 in academic progress.
For ticket sales, Altman would receive 15 percent multiplied by the amount of gross revenue from home ticket sales exceeding $4 million.
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