What will ex-Cardinal Milt Wagner earn in new role with Louisville basketball?
Milt Wagner's new role as Louisville basketball's director of player development and alumni relations will pay the ex-Cardinal $85,000 annually.
Wagner will earn that salary in addition to a one-time $5,000 sign-on bonus, according to his signed offer letter, acquired via open records request by the Courier Journal.
Wagner's administrative role pays significantly less than a coaching position. The lowest-paid assistant on Kenny Payne's first Louisville staff is Josh Jamieson, whose year one base salary is $350,000.
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Wagner played at Louisville from 1981-86, including a redshirt year in 1984-85. He averaged 12.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and three assists in his 144-game career and helped lead the Cardinals to the NCAA title in 1986, the one season he played with Payne.
The 59-year-old Wagner is the grandfather of DJ Wagner, the top point guard in the high school class of 2023. An NCAA rule prohibits schools from hiring "an individual associated with" a prospective recruit in a non-coaching position for two years before and two years after the player's enrollment.
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U of L has had preliminary discussions with the NCAA about that rule, spokesman Kenny Klein said when Wagner was hired. The school is expected to argue that the length of Payne and Milt Wagner's relationship should create an exception.
Milt Wagner was in attendance at the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League stop in Louisville last weekend to watch his grandson.
DJ Wagner has long been expected to play at Kentucky for coach John Calipari, who coached his father, Dajuan Wagner, at Memphis. Calipari hired Milt Wagner in a non-coaching position there before the current NCAA rule existed.
But momentum among recruiting analysts' predictions of late has swung toward the Cardinals. Wagner has not publicly narrowed his list of college options, but Louisville and Kentucky are widely expected to be the favorites.
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Milt Wagner's role at Louisville will not include on-court coaching, but Payne said at the time of the hire that he'll be involved in other aspects of player development, including off the court.
"Basically I'm like a liaison between KP and and the players," Wagner said. "I'll kind of just tell them what KP likes and what he's looking for and his experiences, because I know everything KP is thinking, pretty much, and and those guys can come to me."
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: What's Milt Wagner's salary with Louisville basketball?
