NCAA basketball: Top 25 highest-paid college basketball coaches for 2020

9. Chris Mack, Louisville

Salary: $4,067,494 | Buyout: $12 million

There are two reasons why Chris Mack cracks the list of the 10 highest-paid head coaches in college basketball. For one, the Louisville Cardinals had to lure him away from a relatively nice gig with the Xavier Musketeers to right the ship after the Rick Pitino era ended scandalously. Moreover, Mack has also proven he’s a darn good coach that’s worth big money.

Mack took over a strong Xavier program but led them to sustained success through his time with the Musketeers. The team had just one season under Mack in which they didn’t reach 20 wins overall and also hit 24 or more wins in five different seasons, including his final year when they went a tenure-best 29-6. Xavier also made three Sweet 16s and an Elite Eight under Mack.

Lured to Louisville by a big payday and a chance to coach in the ACC, the Cardinals needed a coach of Mack’s caliber to keep the program afloat after Pitino ran amok with numerous big-time infractions. He did so respectably in the 2018-19 season with a 20-14 overall record but even more so this past year, leading Louisville to a 24-7 overall mark and tying for second in the conference.

It’s certainly worth noting that Mack is currently not in an enviable position right now. With NCAA sanctions looming large over the Cardinals basketball program right now, he may be at the helm of either a lame-duck or hamstrung entity when penalties are handed out. Given his success at every stop, however, he might be the right guy to pay to weather that storm — assuming they can keep him.