UH's Sampson gets extension, raise, potential bonus

The University of Houston has reached an agreement with men’s basketball coach Kelvin Sampson on a two-year contract extension plus a significant raise in his annual compensation.

Sampson’s restructured contract is for 5 years, and is worth $7 million, tying him to UH until 2021.

Sampson had three years left on his original contract that paid him a total of $1.1 million, which included $550 in base salary, $350,000 in non-base salary compensation and $200,000 in deferred compensation

His total annual compensation now is $1.4 million.

The contract amendment also includes a $1 million bonus for Sampson should the school land in a conference that has television revenues in excess of $20 million.

“Since the end of a very successful 2015-16 season we can see our men’s basketball program is heading in the right direction under Kelvin Sampson’s leadership,” said Hunter Yurachek, UH vice president for intercollegiate athletics.

“We agreed to terms a couple weeks ago. I took those terms forward to the board of regents, at their meeting last Thursday for their approval, and they have approved those.

“So we have an amendment in principle to extend Coach Sampson’s contract for two years, add $250,000 to his non-base salary compensation. We’ve increased his deferred compensation by $50,000.

“We have also incentivized him similar to what we did with Coach (Tom) Herman, with a million dollar bonus in the event that the University of Houston becomes a member of a conference that has television revenues in excess of $20 million during the term of his contract.

Herman’s contract includes a one-time bonus of $5 million if that occurs while he is at UH.

Yurachek said Sampson’s restructured contract with UH gives him the stability he deserves.

“Really what that does, is that secures him through the opening of our renovated basketball center,” Yurachek said. “I think it’s very important to have our program tracking in the right direction similar to our football program as we move into a renovated basketball center.”