NCAA News Wire
CBK Roundup: Kentucky assistant coaches get big raises
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
Kentucky basketball is familiar with the phrase the rich get richer, but this time it applies to the Wildcats’ assistant coaches, not their latest recruiting class.
Head coach John Calipari’s top two assistants, Kenny Payne and John Robic, received two-year contract extensions and significant raises. Payne will earn $500,000 annually, a $150,000 raise that came with a promotion to associate head coach.
According to the Gannett salary database for college coaches, Payne will earn more than Orlando Antigua, who left Kentucky to become head coach at South Florida, as well as 16 head coaches who took their team to the NCAA Tournament in 2014.
—The first annual CBS Sports Classic will be held Dec. 20 at Chicago’s United Center and include Kentucky, North Carolina, UCLA and Ohio State.
The four programs, which have won a combined 25 NCAA Tournament championships, are set for these matchups: UCLA-Kentucky, North Carolina-Ohio State.
Similar to the mid-November Champions Classic — which includes Kentucky, Duke, Michigan State and Kansas — the event will be played in the third week of December every year with the same field. Matchups will rotate and the venue will change.
The second CBS Sports Classic will be Dec. 19, 2015 with UNC vs. UCLA and UK vs. OSU at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. On Dec. 17, 2016, the event will be held in Las Vegas and feature Kentucky vs. North Carolina and UCLA vs. Ohio State..
—Texas A&M’s leading scorer last season is looking for his fourth school after announcing he would transfer from College Station.
Jamal Jones said via Twitter he would be looking for his “next opportunity” after averaging 13.4 points in 2013-14. Jones transferred to Texas A&M from Lee College following one season at Ole Miss.
Jones, a junior, led the team in scoring with 13.4 points per game in his first season with Texas A&M.
