Sources: Kevin Ollie contract close
UConn and Kevin Ollie are on the verge of finalizing a five-year contract that will pay the coach close to $3 million a year, a source with direct knowledge of the negotiations told ESPN on Monday.
Ollie hasn't signed the deal and is still negotiating two key points, including assistant coaching salaries as well as student athlete welfare issues, sources with direct knowledge told ESPN. But the sources say that Ollie and the school hope to have a deal done by Wednesday.
Ollie coached the Huskies to the national title last month, the school's fourth since 1999, and is in the second year of a five-year contract. The source said that contract will be replaced with the new one once it is finalized.
The contract will more than double Ollie's salary. He was paid $1.25 million this past season. Ollie was originally given a seven-month contract when he replaced Hall of Fame coach Jim Calhoun in September 2012. Three months later, he was given a five-year contract worth an estimated $7.5 million.
The new deal is projected to make Ollie the highest-paid coach in the American Athletic Conference.
The source said that no NBA team called UConn officials seeking permission to speak with Ollie, although teams may have called Ollie's representatives.
The source said UConn first approached Ollie about a new contract after the Huskies beat Iowa State in the Sweet 16, but the sides didn't get together until well after the Final Four.
Yahoo! Sports reported earlier Monday that Ollie and UConn agreed in principle to a $3 million-plus annual contract extension.
Ollie has made repeated statements over the past month that he wants to stay at UConn despite reports that the Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers and possibly other NBA teams would be in pursuit of his services.
Shabazz Napier, the most outstanding player at the Final Four, said at the NBA combine in Chicago last week that he anticipated Ollie would stay with the Huskies.
UConn will likely be predicted to finish in the top three again in the American and garner a spot in the Top 25 with the return of Ryan Boatright, the eligibility of transfer Rodney Purvis from NC State and big man Amida Brimah returning to form the core of the team.
The Huskies will play Duke at the Izod Center in New Jersey next December, as well as other high-profile nonconference games against Florida, Stanford and Texas and playing in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off next season.
UConn's men's and women's teams are tentatively scheduled to make an appearance at the White House to meet with President Barack Obama in June.
