Alford, New Mexico agree to settle buyout dispute
New UCLA coach Steve Alford and his former employer, the University of New Mexico, reached an agreement to settle the buyout dispute between the two parties.
Alford and UCLA will pay New Mexico $300,00 to satisfy a buyout clause that was in his old and new contracts with the Lobos, according to Yahoo! Sports.
On March 30, Alford took the UCLA job 12 days after agreeing to a contract extension that would go into effect on April 1 with New Mexico.
New Mexico insisted that Alford would have to make good on the $1 million buyout clause.
Alford insisted he was not responsible for the $1 million buyout in his new contract because he was hired by UCLA before that deal went into effect.
But New Mexico argued that because Alford didn't give a 30-day notice of his departure as required by both his contracts, he was responsible for the $1 million.
Friday's announcement said the buyout deal would net the university a "favorable" outcome of $625,000, the Albuquerque Journal reported.
UCLA responded by saying it was "blindsided" by Friday's announcement.
The two sides have not yet signed any agreements, the Journal reported, and UCLA made it clear that it is not paying $625,000 as implied in New Mexico's statement.
"It's pretty convoluted but the simple answer is, and these are approximate figures, approximately $325,000 in savings to UNM for compensation not paid and then $300,000 in buyout," Kimberly Bell, associate university counsel at UNM told the Journal. "And it's an agreement in principle, nothing signed yet. There are some details to work out."
