Michigan women's hoops coach Kim Barnes Arico's salary will near $1M by Year 5 of new deal

Michigan head women's basketball coach Kim Barnes Arico is coaching this season with a salary of $890,500, and attainable bonuses could push her pay close to or beyond $1 million, under the terms of a five-year contract extension signed last month.

Barnes Arico signed the new five-year deal Oct. 26, just days before starting her 12th season on the job. The deal, obtained by The Detroit News through an open-records request, runs through the 2027-28 season, but it's a rollover contract, with an extra year automatically added every July 1.

In Year 1 of the deal, this year, Barnes Arico's salary calls for $565,000 in base pay, $275,000 for TV, radio and promotional appearances, and $50,000 in deferred compensation. The $890,500 total remains the same payout as the terms of her last extension, which was signed before the 2021-23 season. By Year 5 of the new deal, base pay will rise to $632,800, for a total minimum compensation of $957,800, before bonuses.

Each extra year added via the rollover clause calls for a 2% raise in the base pay.

Barnes Arico's salary remains behind that of first-year Michigan State head women's basketball coach Robyn Fralick, who will earn at least $1 million a year over the course of her six-year contract. Both are among the highest-paid women's basketball coaches in the Big Ten.

Barnes Arico took home more than $1 million for last season, as her deferred compensation paid out $250,000. Her next deferred compensation payout is set for 2026, for $150,000.

Her bonus structure remains essentially the same, with $50,000 for an outright Big Ten championship, $25,000 for a Big Ten tournament championship, $20,000 for an NCAA Tournament appearance, with modestly increasing payouts for each win in the NCAA Tournament, from $25,000 for a first-round win to $40,000 for an NCAA championship. Barnes Arico also gets $20,000 for being Big Ten coach of the year and $50,000 for being national coach of the year.

Under the extension, Michigan's payout should it cut ties with Barnes Arico without cause starts at $600,000 this year, and drops to $200,000 in the last year of the deal. Barnes Arico's buyout starts at $300,000 and drops to $100,000 in the last year of the deal, including the rollover years.

Barnes Arico, 53, is the most successful coach in Michigan women's basketball history, leading the Wolverines to six NCAA Tournaments, including the last five, with the program's first Elite Eight appearance in 2022 and its first time in the Sweet 16 in 2021. Michigan had made just two NCAA Tournaments before Barnes Arico arrived in 2012, and has made the postseason in each of Barnes Arico's seasons, except 2019-20, when there was no postseason, amid the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. She owns a 246-120 record at Michigan, including 5-1 this season entering Wednesday's home game against SIUE.

Before arriving at Michigan, Barnes Arico coached 10 seasons at St. John's, three at Adelphi, two at New Jersey Institute of Technology and one at Farleigh Dickinson-Madison.

tpaul@detroitnews.com

@tonypaul1984