UM's Kim Barnes Arico will earn at least $850K a year under new contract

Tony Paul
The Detroit News

Michigan head women's basketball coach Kim Barnes Arico will earn $850,000 in 2021-22 and that number will rise close to seven figures by the end of her new five-year contract, which was signed last month and announced last week.

Her salary for this season includes $525,000 in base pay, $275,000 for TV and radio appearances and other sponsorships, plus $50,000 in deferred compensation, according to contract terms obtained by The News. Her base pay will be more than $600,000 in Year 5 of the deal.

Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico.

Barnes Arico, 51, will remain the highest-paid women's basketball coach in the state, and one of the top-compensated in the Big Ten. She's also in the upper tier nationally.

Her previous contract, signed in 2018, paid her more than $700,000 a year.

"I am so grateful to continue our work at the greatest university in the world," Barnes Arico said in a statement earlier this month.

Michigan is coming off the greatest season in program history, with the Wolverines making the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 for the first time.

The Wolverines were ranked all last season, and reached No. 11, their highest ever. They also earned their best NCAA Tournament seed, as a No. 6, and beat Florida Gulf Coast and Tennessee before falling to defending national champion Baylor, 78-75, in overtime.

In nine seasons at Michigan, Barnes Arico is 193-102 and has eight 20-win seasons. The only year her team didn't make the postseason was 2020, because of the postseason was canceled by COVID-19. She became the program's winningest coach in 2018.

Under her new contract, which runs through 2025-26, she also is eligible for several bonuses, including Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles, NCAA Tournament appearances, NCAA Tournament wins and coach-of-the-year honors. Last season, she earned at least $70,000 in bonuses.

Before arriving at Michigan, Barnes Arico coached at St. John's, Adelphi, New Jersey Institute of Technology and Fairleigh Dickinson–Madison.

Her new deal has a buyout which starts at $500,000 if she were to leave for another job this season, and drops by $100,000 every subsequent year of the deal.

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tpaul@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @tonypaul1984