UWGB received a $705,000 buyout for men’s basketball coach Sundance Wicks. How will the money be spent?
GREEN BAY – When Sundance Wicks was hired in May as the new men’s basketball coach at Wyoming after one season with the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, it left the Phoenix in a difficult spot so late in the offseason.
But it also left the program with an extra $705,000 to spend, which is what Wyoming paid after Wicks’ contract with UWGB required the hefty sum if he left for another school before April 1, 2025.
It could be argued UWGB athletic director Josh Moon hit a few home runs when it came to replacing former coach Will Ryan.
He hired Wicks, who helped engineer one of the biggest one-year turnarounds in NCAA Division I history and was named Horizon League coach of the year.
He also inserted a significant buyout in the early years of Wicks’ contract that at least made his departure a little easier to take.
So, how does all this work?
How do they come up with the buyout figure when negotiating a contract? Where does the money go once it’s paid? How is the money spent?
What is the process of agreeing to terms on a buyout?
The range of a buyout can fluctuate greatly depending on the sport and school.
The higher the level, often the higher the buyout.
The $705,000 figure for Wicks was on the high end for a school like UWGB, especially when considering he received a $235,000 base salary for his first season.
“That was intentional,” Moon said. “We talked about that, saying based on where our program was at and based on him being a first time DI head coach as well. It’s part of the discussion as you go through the interview process that it’s crystal clear. Like, we are taking a leap here. You are taking a leap with us. Part of this is that we are not trying to stop you from going somewhere in the future, but if you do, like after two or three years the (buyout figure) starts going down pretty favorably for Sunny.”
Indeed, the buyout would not have been so steep had Wicks stayed a bit longer at UWGB. It would have gone down to $475,000 in 2026, $350,000 in 2027, $150,000 in 2028 and $50,000 in 2029.
When UWGB hired Doug Gottlieb as Wicks’ replacement, they agreed to a buyout even higher than the one Wicks had.
If Gottlieb leaves for another school any time prior to the Friday after the men’s national championship game in 2026, the buyout is $850,000. The figure goes down to $650,000 in 2027, $300,000 in 2028 and $100,000 in 2029.
But if UWGB doesn’t want to lose another coach so soon, why not make the buyout much higher, like in the millions? Especially with a first-year coach in Gottlieb who UWGB is taking a big chance on when no other DI school had yet to take the leap.
That never would work, even if the school has significant leverage.
“There is some common-sense fairness to it,” Moon said. “In terms of when you start talking to agents and stuff, if they have them, the market is the market. You are not even going to be competitive with search firms and some of this stuff. There might be an outlier, but they would go, ‘What are you guys doing? You guys are crazy. This guy isn’t even going to look at you.’
“The thing with Sunny, obviously I knew him. We have a relationship. Just where he was at and kind of unknown, that number was higher based on a lot of factors. Especially where our program was. That was part of the deal. I guess we had a little more, I wouldn’t even say leverage, just a little more understanding of, ‘Hey, we need a coach here for three years.’ It didn’t work out like that, but it worked out the best for everybody involved.”
Schools try to negotiate a lower buyout
Wyoming attempted what many schools in its situation would have done when it decided to hire Wicks.
It approached UWGB to see if there was a chance it would lower the buyout figure.
It’s similar to that eBay seller or antique store owner who gets asked if they’d take $10 less than the asking price on an item.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
It didn’t work this time.
If somebody wanted Wicks, they were going to pay the sticker price.
“With Wyoming, it was a great conversation with their AD,” Moon said. “They wanted to move fast, and the key is to just be honest. Like, ‘This is where we are at.’ In this case, it was $705,000. We talked through some scenarios and some options and could we do a multiyear thing. At the end of the day, it was best for us, best for them, to just move forward.”
Wyoming’s pursuit of Wicks didn’t take long. The whole process was done in a matter of days. Moon was clear after the initial discussions, and by the second day of talks between Wyoming and Wicks, that the price was not going to drop.
Wyoming opted to pay the buyout in one installment rather than work out a payment plan.
Just like a game guarantee in which one school pays another to play at its venue, the check usually is in the mail within about a month.
Wyoming paid UWGB in full earlier this summer
How will UWGB spend the buyout money?
UWGB’s athletic department already has plans on how to use the money during the next couple of years.
Some funds will go into rising travel costs. The price for officiating has gone up, too.
“How to keep pace with that based on funding, that really has been helpful,” Moon said. “This year, it’s going to be how do we fill some of those gaps to not impact the student-athlete experience for us? As we sort out some of the stuff going on with the state with funding and things, we are just focused on with this check, how do we help with some of those needs this year to make sure our student-athletes have a great experience?”
UWGB finally was on the right side of a buyout after it fired its two previous men’s basketball coaches.
It paid Linc Darner more than $700,000 after he was let go in 2020. It paid Ryan in two installments that totaled $445,000 after he was dismissed in 2023.
The last time it was on the receiving end of a buyout before Wicks came in 2015 when Brian Wardle left for Bradley. The buyout was far cheaper then, costing Bradley $125,000.
“We want to hire people that other people want,” Moon said. “It’s a validation that we have got great people here. We need to keep working to keep our coaches and retain, recruit. We need to fundraise more so that we can be really competitive.
“Obviously, we never want to lose a coach after a year. In this situation, based on what Sunny got, he essentially was double what some of the (Missouri) Valley coaches are making. In that case, you just tip your cap and move on. I know it was frustrating for some of the fans for the short period, but that’s our job. My job is to make sure we are positioning UWGB the best way possible.
“Recruit, retain talent, protect the university at all costs and making sure we are competitive in the future. I think we did that here.”
UWGB close to contract agreement to play future seasons at Resch Center
UWGB’s six-year deal with PMI Entertainment, which manages the Resch Center, expired at the end of last season.
The school plans to continue to have the venue remain the primary home for the Phoenix men instead of moving all contests to the 4,018-seat on-campus Kress Center.
UWGB is on the verge of a new deal with PMI and will play 11 regular-season games at the Resch this season and three at the Kress.
“I think we are 98% done,” Moon said. “It’s really just kind of getting the signatures done. … Obviously, we are playing there this year and for the foreseeable future here. We will have it wrapped up really quick. Probably this week.”
