Guevara receives salary bump, attendance incentive in 5-year contract
Central Michigan womens basketball head coach Sue Guevara celebrates after winning the MAC Championship game on March 10 at Quicken Loans Arena.
Sue Guevara will earn $340,000 in base salary and media and promotional appearances, but still isn't the highest paid women's basketball coach in the Mid-American Conference.
The head coach remains the third highest-paid head coach at Central Michigan, behind football head coach John Bonamego and men's basketball head coach Keno Davis.
In a new contract announced April 16, the head coach received a $25,000 increase in base salary for the 2018-19 season. Guevara is now under contract for the next five years until 2023.
Her base salary will increase from $265,000 to $290,000 in the 2018-19 season. In her current contract, Guevara earns a $265,000 base salary, with $40,000 in television, radio and promotional appearances.
Guevara will garner a total of $35,000 more in annual compensation in the next season, after receiving a $10,000 increase for promotional appearances. In 2018-19, her base salary will increase to $290,000 and she will earn $340,000 in annual compensation without including incentives.
While her base salary stays at $290,000 from 2018-2023, Guevara's TV, radio and promotional appearance compensation will rise to $60,000 in 2020-21, $70,000 in 2021-22 and $80,000 in 2022-23.
She will now have the second-highest base salary in the MAC, just behind Toledo's Tricia Cullop, who inked a contract in May, 2017 with a base salary of $300,000.
Guevara's buyout increased to $1.5 million in the 2018-19 season. In her current contract, the buyout is set at only $500,000. This means that if Guevara wants to accept an another job, she must pay the university $1.5 million for terminating the contract.
The university set a $5,000 incentive at the end of each season if McGuirk Arena averages 2,000 people in attendance after the season. Along with attendance, Guevara received increased benefits for being named Mid-American Conference Coach of the year, winning records, and hitting 20 wins during the season.
Here is a list of Guevara's benefits for the 2018-19 season:
- Winning record at conclusion of season — $7,500
- 20 or more wins — $10,000
- MAC West Division regular season title — $7,500
- MAC Coach of the Year — $7,500
- Wins only MAC Championship game or is regular season champion — $10,000
- Wins MAC regular season and tournament — $15,000
- NCAA Tournament appearance — $10,000
- WNIT appearance — $7,500
- Finish season ranked in AP or Coaches Poll Top 25 — $7,500
Guevara is coming off a historic season in which the Chippewas went to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament — CMU's deepest run in program history. The team won a program-high 30 wins in the 2017-18 season.
First, the Chippewas beat No. 6 LSU in Columbus, Ohio. They advanced to beat Ohio State in Columbus and earned the program's first Sweet 16 berth in history.
Guevara has coached 11 seasons at CMU. She is the program's winningest coach with 204 wins and 149 losses.
