Sean Miller meets with the media during the Pac-12 tournament last week.
Arizona Wildcats basketball is a big business … and business is good.
Anticipation is high as Arizona enters the NCAA Tournament as a No. 2 seed in the West. The Wildcats (30-4) are coming off a Pac-12 tournament title as they steam ahead to try to reach the school’s first Final Four since 2001.
The season — in which coach Sean Miller has arguably done his best job, considering the adversity of multiple injuries and a 19-game suspension for guard Allonzo Trier — is certainly paying off.
Miller last month was given a raise and contract extension through 2022, by which time his compensation will reach nearly $3 million. That doesn’t include bonuses for athletic or academic performances.
So far this season, Miller has earned $190,000 in athletic performances:
* $50,000 for winning the regular-season Pac-12 championship (Arizona shared the title with Oregon).
* $50,000 for winning the Pac-12 tournament title.
* $40,000 for winning at least 25 regular-season games.
* $30,000 for being ranked in the top 10 of the final regular-season coaches or AP poll (Arizona was No. 4 in both)
* $20,000 for being selected the Pac-12 Coach of the Year.
There could be more on the way.
Advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament gives Miller a $25,000 bonus. The total jumps to:
— $75,000 for getting to the Sweet 16
— $125,000 for advancing to the Elite Eight
— $300,000 for advancing to the Final Four
— $675,000 for winning the national championship
Also, Miller will earn an extra $40,000 if he is selected national Coach of the Year by the Associated Press, the National Association of Basketball Coaches or the Atlanta Tipoff Club (Naismith Award).
That NCAA tournament feeling… pic.twitter.com/olw6oAxxH2
— Arizona Basketball (@APlayersProgram) March 13, 2017
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