Fansided

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

By Cody Williams

Mike Krzyzewski of the Duke Blue Devils talks with John Calipari of the Kentucky Wildcats (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images)
Mike Krzyzewski of the Duke Blue Devils talks with John Calipari of the Kentucky Wildcats (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 25
Next
college basketball highest-paid coaches
College basketball (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

23. Tom Crean, Georgia

Salary: $3.2 million | Buyout: $9.6 million

Beginning in 1989 as a graduate assistant, Tom Crean got to see some huge college basketball programs up close. He served as a GA with Michigan State in that season before four years at Western Kentucky as an assistant. Crean then filled the same role for a year at Pittsburgh before rejoining the Spartans, this time as an assistant. That lead to him getting the job at Marquette in 1999.

The first two years with the Golden Eagles weren’t terrific under Crean as they went 15-14 in each year. However, he turned the program around quickly as they went 26-7 in the 2001-02 season and then 27-6 the following year, making it to the Final Four with a team led by the great Dwyane Wade. After a pair of 19-win seasons, Crean went 69-31 over his final three years before taking the job with the Indiana Hoosiers.

Bloomington was none too kind for Crean. Though he recruited relatively well in his time there. Yes, he had three seasons with 27 or more wins and another 20-win season as well but he made the NCAA Tournament just four times in nine years and never made it past the Sweet 16. Following an 18-16 season in 2016-17, he was fired. That led to a year off before he got his current job with the Georgia Bulldogs.

Thus far in Athens, Crean is still trying to rebuild the program. He’s just 27-37 through two years with the Bulldogs. However, with his reputation as a recruiter at a high-profile program in the SEC, the hope is that he can restore Georgia. He’s being paid to do so but whether or not he’s successful remains up in the air.