Five most underpaid men's college basketball coaches: Purdue, Iowa State have top bargains
In terms of pure bang for your buck in men's college basketball, it's hard to top the return on investment Purdue has found in longtime coach Matt Painter.
He's 408-197 since taking over with the Boilermakers in 2005, with 14 NCAA Tournament appearances and four Big Ten regular-season championships. This year's team spent multiple weeks at No. 1 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll and is in the mix for one of the top overall tournament seeds.
All this for $3.58 million in total compensation during the 2022-23 season, good for 21st nationally and sixth in the Big Ten.
USA TODAY Sports compiled pay information from each school in the Power Five conferences and from each school outside those conferences whose team has appeared in at least three of the past five NCAA tournaments.
A review of the numbers puts Painter atop the list of men's college basketball's most underpaid head coaches.
Matt Painter, Purdue
The one thing missing from Painter's resume is a Final Four appearance, which has eluded Purdue since 1980. Anchored by 7-foot-4 center Zach Edey, this year's team might be his best. The Boilermakers have already won 20 games for the 13th time under Painter and will make a 14th tournament appearance, potentially as one of the No. 1 seeds. With four trips to the Sweet 16 since 2017, Purdue is knocking on the door of a trip to the national semifinals.
FROM $63K TO HIGHEST PAID: We tracked John Calipari's pay over his 31-year career. Here's how he became nation's top-paid Division I men's basketball coach
MOST OVERPAID: We're looking at you Calipari, Holtmann
T.J. Otzelberger, Iowa State
The former Iowa State assistant returned to Ames following the 2020-21 season and took over a program in free fall; the Cyclones went 2-22 and failed to win a Big 12 game in former coach Steve Prohm's final season. But Otzelberger led ISU to a national ranking and the Sweet 16 in his first year and has another team set for the tournament this month. Not bad for a coach making just $2 million in total compensation this season, lowest among the 10 head coaches in the Big 12.
Leonard Hamilton, Florida State
This has been a forgettable year for Florida State, which is limping through a 20-loss season after going just 7-13 in non-conference play. That doesn't detract from Hamilton's broader success with the Seminoles, which includes four trips to the Sweet 16, one Elite Eight berth and over 400 wins, leaving him as the most successful coach in program history. At $2.25 million, with a maximum of $2.68 million in bonuses available, Hamilton remains a steal for FSU.
Steve Pikiell, Rutgers
A win against Michigan in the second round of the Big Ten tournament should be enough to send Rutgers back to the tournament for the third year in a row. If so, Pikiell would account for a third of the tournament bids in program history. The former Stony Brook coach opened with three losing finishes in a row but has posted a winning record in each of the past four seasons, a program first since 1989-92. The Scarlet Knights' best run in decades will earn Pikiell $3 million in compensation during the 2022-23 season, 11th among Big Ten coaches, though his $30.8 million buyout is the second-largest in USA TODAY Sports' survey behind Kentucky's John Calipari ($41.3 million).
Brian Dutcher, San Diego State
Dutcher spent almost 30 years as an assistant under former Michigan and San Diego State coach Steve Fisher before taking over with the Aztecs following the 2016-17 season. Since then, Dutcher has won over 75% of his games and coached perhaps the best team in program history, the 2019-20 squad that won 30 games and spent much of the regular season in the top five before the tournament was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Dutcher is making $1.3 million in annual compensation as part of a deal that runs through the 2026-27 season. It's a handsome total in the context of the Mountain West Conference; it ranks him 67th among coaches surveyed by USA TODAY Sports.
Follow Paul Myerberg on Twitter @PaulMyerberg
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College basketball's five most underpaid men's coaches: Who made list?
