Missouri coach Mike Anderson directs his team from the sidelines during a game in Oklahoma City last month. At the end of a busy Tuesday, Anderson signed a new contract, passing up a big raise to coach in Georgia.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Missouri men’s basketball coach Mike Anderson passed up a sizable raise offered by Georgia to instead sign a new seven-year contract with the school he helped lead to the brink of the Final Four.
The announcement Tuesday night caps a whirlwind couple of days for the university and for Anderson, who had also been linked to the coaching vacancy at Memphis created by John Calipari’s move to Kentucky.
“We are excited coach Anderson is going to be at Missouri for a long time,” athletics director Mike Alden said. “He’s done a tremendous job rebuilding our basketball tradition and is poised to lead our program to new heights.”
Anderson, who was hired in 2006, previously earned a base annual salary of $850,000.
It’s believed he will earn a base salary of $1.3 million. The deal comes after Georgia reportedly discussed paying Anderson more than $2 million a year.
“We hired a coach who probably left $700,000 on the table,” Missouri curator Don Walsworth said. “He has appeal to the citizens of Missouri. He’s all about honesty and integrity.”
Bennett to get $1.7M a year
Virginia says new men’s basketball coach Tony Bennett has agreed to “a memorandum of understanding” that will be pay him $1.7 million annually for five years. Bennett will receive a $500,000 signing bonus and another $500,000 if he stays five years.
WSU will make quick hire
Washington State hopes to hire a basketball coach to replace Bennett in about a week, and athletic director Jim Sterk has a couple of candidates in mind.
The AD mentioned Ken Bone of Portland State and Bill Grier of San Diego as possible targets for the Cougars. Other possible candidates drawing speculation include Randy Bennett of Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga assistant Ray Giacoletti, who was head coach at Utah and Eastern Washington.
Penn St. tops Notre Dame
NEW YORK – Talor Battle scored 17 points, Andrew Jones had career highs of 16 points and 15 rebounds, and Penn State hung on for dear life after squandering a big lead in a 67-59 victory over Notre Dame on Tuesday in the NIT semifinals.
Jamelle Cornley added 15 points and Stanley Pringle had 10 for Penn State (26-11), which set a school record for wins in a season and will play Baylor for the championship Thursday.
Cheered on by football coach Joe Paterno, the Nittany Lions beat one of their former gridiron rivals at their own game, relentlessly pounding Luke Harangody inside and harassing sharpshooter Kyle McAlarney whenever he touched the ball on the perimeter.
Harangody, a second-team All-American, finished with 17 points to lead the Irish (21-15).
Baylor beats San Diego St.
NEW YORK – Curtis Jerrells scored 25 points and LaceDarius Dunn had 23, leading once-downtrodden Baylor into the NIT championship game with a 76-62 win over San Diego State..
Kevin Rogers added 15 points for Baylor (24-14), which has won seven of its last eight games and matched the 1947-48 team that lost in the national title game for the second-most wins in school history. Kyle Spain had 15 points to lead San Diego State (26-10).
Elsewhere
• Purdue center JaJuan Johnson will return for his junior year, instead of declaring early for the NBA draft.
• Virginia Commonwealth has picked Florida assistant coach Shaka Smart to be its new men’s basketball coach.
• Frank Hassell had 18 points and 15 rebounds to lead Old Dominion to a 66-62 win over Bradley for the title of the inaugural CollegeInsider.com tournament on Tuesday night.