Hiring a college basketball coach is costly. Just not in the way it used to be.

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Villanova coach Kyle Neptune, left, is on the hot seat. Indiana coach Mike Woodson, right, will step down at the end of the season.

As representatives of Villanova have surveyed the college basketball coaching landscape over the past several weeks, gauging the interest of potential candidates should they decide to fire third-year coach Kyle Neptune, the potential salary is not what’s caught the attention of coaches who wouldn’t otherwise consider changing jobs.

Instead, the Villanova pitch is centered around a new force in the coaching market: Whomever succeeds Neptune would have one of the highest-paid rosters in college basketball, armed with resources to go toe-to-toe with almost anyone in the sport’s new pay-to-play environment.

“The first question agents are asking is, what are they committed to in revenue-share this year and beyond?” one person involved in multiple coaching searches told USA TODAY Sports, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to the confidential nature of the negotiations. “It always used to be, ‘What do I have in facilities and recruiting and assistant salary pool?’ But now it’s, ‘How much can I spend on player acquisition?’ “

Kyle Neptune, who led Villanova to an 18-13 regular-season record, reacts against Butler during a game March 1.

Though a transition in the market has been happening gradually since 2021, when college athletes were given the green light to profit off their name, image and likeness, it will play out in full effect during this college basketball coaching carousel.

In conversations with 14 people from across the industry who are actively involved in discussions among schools, coaches, agents and search firms — all of whom were granted anonymity in order to speak candidly on the state of this coaching cycle — a clear theme has emerged.

While the amount of money a school is willing to pay a new coach will always be crucial in the attractiveness of the job, it is not as dominant a factor as it once was. With the…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/hiring-college-basketball-coach-costly-110240079.html

Author : USA TODAY Sports

Publish date : 2025-03-13 11:02:00

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