Breaking down Kenny Brooks’ Kentucky contract details. Here’s how much he’ll make.

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The University of Kentucky just made Kenny Brooks the third-highest paid head coach in Southeastern Conference women’s basketball.

The former Virginia Tech coach rocked the industry last week with his move from Blacksburg to Lexington, and his five-year, $7.7 million deal ranks his salary behind only LSU’s Kim Mulkey and South Carolina’s Dawn Staley on the list of the SEC’s highest-paid women’s basketball coaches.

Per a report from Front Office Sports, Mulkey is the highest-paid women’s basketball coach in the country this year — $3.26 million for the 2023-24 season — while Staley is tied for second with UConn’s Geno Auriemma at $3.1 million.

Per the details of Brooks’ most recent Virginia Tech contract (obtained by the Herald-Leader through a Freedom of Information Act request) — extended in late July 2023 following the Hokies’ 2023 Final Four appearance — he earned a combined $890,000 in base salary and supplemental compensation, plus incentives for the 2023-24 season. A representative from Virginia Tech noted that Brooks’ annual salary would’ve bumped up to $975,000 on April 1, 2024, had he stayed in Blacksburg.

UK released the details of Brooks’ contract on Thursday following his introductory press conference. Here’s everything you need to know.

LENGTH: Brooks’ contract officially went into effect on March 26, 2024, and runs through March 31, 2029.

MONEY: Similar to his predecessor, Kyra Elzy, Brooks will earn a base salary of $400,000 per year, in addition to an annually increasing amount of money received from exclusive multimedia agreements and endorsements through the University of Kentucky.

▪ From March 26, 2024, to March 31, 2025, Brooks will receive “a prorated amount” of $900,000 in multimedia deal and endorsement money.

▪ From April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026, Brooks will receive $1 million in multimedia deal and endorsement money.

▪ From April 1, 2026, to March 31, 2027, Brooks will receive $1.1 million in multimedia deal and endorsement money.

▪ From April 1, 2027, to March 31, 2028, Brooks will receive $1.3 million in multimedia deal and endorsement money.

▪ From April 1, 2028, to March 31, 2029, Brooks will receive $1.4 million in multimedia deal and endorsement money.

For those keeping track at home, all that accounts for a combined, season-by-season earnings of:

▪ 2024-25 season: $1.3 million.

▪ 2025-26 season: $1.4 million.

▪ 2026-27 season: $1.5 million.

▪ 2027-28 season: $1.7 million.

▪ 2028-29 season: $1.8 million.

But that’s not all.

INCENTIVES: In addition to his base salary and multimedia and endorsement earnings, Brooks has the opportunity to increase his annual earnings on a season-by-season basis through both on-court success and his players’ academic performance.

Unlike Elzy’s head coaching contract — notably signed during the height of the COVID-19 global pandemic — which contained a section detailing the option to return to the contract at a later date and amend it to contain a specific APR incentive “because NCAA rule changes may also affect Academic Progress Rate measurement standards going forward,” Brooks’ contract contains two academic performance-related compensation points.

▪ Academic Progress Rate (APR): According to the APR guidelines as defined by the NCAA, Brooks’ contract requires UK to award him a $25,000 bonus “in the event the University’s Women’s Basketball team achieves a minimum of .975 Academic Progress rate for women’s basketball student athletes in any academic year.”

▪ Team GPA: Brooks will also receive a $25,000 bonus if women’s basketball eclipses a team GPA of at least 3.0 for both the fall and spring semesters.

On the court, Brooks will receive noncumulative bonuses if the Wildcats reach the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 ($75,000), the Elite Eight ($150,000) and the Final Four ($250,000), as well as if Brooks were to win an NCAA national championship ($500,000).

Additional benefits: Brooks will also receive benefits, such as a country club membership and the choice of “one late-model, quality automobile” for personal and professional purposes “or an equivalent stipend.” He’ll also receive 12 “prime, lower level” tickets to each home women’s basketball game and 10 tickets for each away and neutral-site women’s basketball game, including postseason games. He’ll also receive four tickets to each home men’s basketball game and six tickets to each home football game.

The fine print: Notably, if Brooks is fired “without cause,” he’ll receive 75% of his salary, paid out monthly throughout the remainder of the contract term.

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