By Max Blumenfrucht | September 30, 2021
As the basketball season approaches, the university has yet to finalize the contract for the men’s new head basketball coach, Dwayne Killings, although it has confirmed that he will be earning $365,000 annually.
Killings, hired in March, replaced Will Brown, whose five-year $1.75 million contract expired after a disappointing 7-9 record last year.
“We offered Dwayne Killings the same amount of money for his position and his staff salary pool as we had allocated under the previous coaching staff,” said Assistant Athletic Director of External Relations Griffith Hunter.
Brown’s contract averaged $350,000 per year. However, according to the database SeeThroughNY, his base salary was $377,964 in 2019 and 2020.
Killings, according to Hunter, agreed to a lower annual salary “in order to increase the amount of money he had available to hire his coaching staff.” Killings, if the contract is finalized, will be earning $365,000 a year. It is not yet clear if any bonuses or other forms of compensation have been negotiated.
The Athletics Department could not provide details on Killings’ contract until the agreement had been settled with the university’s legal team. The department did not answer why the contract is yet to be completed.
“We cannot disclose any information until the contract has been fully executed,” said Vic Cegles, Deputy Athletic Director.
Killings kickstarted the team’s summer workouts on Jul. 6, and the players are now practicing for the season opener at home against Towson on Nov. 9.
Along with his recruiting class and graduate transfer additions to the team, Killings has also assembled a new coaching and support staff.
The staff is comprised of Assistant Coaches Hamlet Tibbs, Dannton Jackson, and Matt Griffin; Director of Operations Dan Madhavapallil, Video Coordinator KJ Baptiste, and Men’s Basketball Graduate Manager Matt Cioce.
The revamped staff brought on by Killings will be earning a total of $319,681 in base salaries. After factoring in Killings’ salary, the personnel budget for the men’s basketball team will be $684,681. The ASP was unable to acquire information on other team expenses.
This year marks a new era for the men’s basketball team as Killings will aim to guide them to a place they haven’t been since 2015 — the NCAA Tournament.
Staff earnings by position —
Assistant Coaches: Hamlet Tibbs ($90,000), Dannton Jackson ($87,704), Matt Griffin ($70,000)
Director of Operations: Dan Madhavapallil ($42,651)
Video Coordinator: KJ Baptiste ($29,326)
According to the information provided by the Athletics Department, Men’s Basketball Graduate Manager Matt Cioce was not listed on the payroll.