Henrickson Signs New Contract at KU
May 10, 2007
LAWRENCE, Kan. –
University of Kansas women’s basketball Coach Bonnie Henrickson has signed a new five-year contract that begins retroactively on April 1, 2006, and expires in March 2011. Henrickson’s prior contract would have expired in April 2009.
Under the new contract, Kansas Athletics will pay Henrickson an annual salary of $220,000 plus additional payments that would bring her total compensation to $635,000 per year. The compensation includes payment for professional services, which may include educational, public relations and promotional duties as assigned by the director of athletics. Such duties could include the production of any radio or television shows, Internet features or Henrickson’s occasional endorsement of products affiliated with and approved by Kansas Athletics or its marketing partner(s).
The contract includes a retention agreement that would pay Henrickson $150,000 annually if she serves as Kansas’ head coach through March 31, 2011.
The contract also includes several provisions for incentives that could total as much as an additional $238,000 in any one year.
Henrickson’s prior contract guaranteed $130,000 in salary and $250,000 for media/public relations services, and included a retention agreement that would pay her $150,000 annually if she had continued as head coach through April 15, 2009.
“We are thrilled that Bonnie Henrickson will be our coach for years to come,” said KU Athletics Director Lew Perkins. “We saw significant improvement toward the end of this season against one of the nation’s toughest schedules. There’s no one I’d rather have at the helm of the Kansas women’s basketball program.”
Henrickson just completed her third season as the head coach at Kansas. She led the 2005-06 squad to 17 wins and the second round of the Women’s NIT, the Jayhawks’ first postseason appearance since 2000. This past season, with a roster consisting of seven freshmen and four new starters, the Jayhawks finished 11-20, playing 20 games against teams that reached the postseason, including 12 against NCAA tournament teams. By the end of the season the young Jayhawks won five of their last seven games, including a victory over NCAA Tournament-bound Oklahoma State in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament, before bowing to third-seeded Baylor in the second round.
Previously, Henrickson coached Virginia Tech for seven seasons, leading the Hokies to seven straight 20-win seasons, five NCAA and two WNIT appearances. She was voted Atlantic-10 Conference Coach of the Year in 1999, and that same year was a finalist in the voting for national coach of the year.
