8:40 p.m. Tuesday – Hefferman has more…
Southern Illinois University men’s basketball coach Chris Lowery had no comment through the sports information office Monday after rumors of his contract being bought out by corporate donors.
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There is no buyout clause in the deal, only what the university would have to pay the 38-year-old if he was fired, which would be the full remainder of the contract. As of today, that amounts to more than $2.25 million. If Lowery were to resign, he would actually have to pay the university $250,000.
[...]
Chancellor Rita Cheng said anything regarding Lowery’s future with the team will be discussed after the tournament. She said there are a lot of opinions about what the university should do with the men’s basketball problem.“Obviously, changes are going to be made. We have a problem, and we have to address it,” Cheng said.
However, she added she didn’t want to imply the changes were strictly about people. The whole program needs to be re-evaluated, she said, and officials have agreed to at least finish the season before engaging in discussions about what comes next.
Notice that Heff asked about a CORPORATE buyout, not university. That might give Lou’s sources some reason to deny the rumor he asked about.
Also, interesting that the Chancellor is commenting on this issue.
End of update.
My man Luis, the unofficial sports writer for this blog, was hearing things about Saluki Basketball Coach Chris Lowery.
No one has gotten closer to Lowery than Luis. It’s really scary. So when Luis hears something, there’s usually a good reason. This time he was hearing talk from three of his sources that the university was seeking to buyout the last years of Lowery’s contract. This came at a time when Athletics Director is asking the USG to approve an increase in the athletic’s operations fee.
On his blog, The Big Dead Sidebar, this weekend, Luis reported the athletics admins are saying there’s no truth in the buyout talk. More…
On Thursday, three sources told The Big Dead Sidebar that the university was preparing a buyout for head coach Chris Lowery in the $2 million range. Those rumors were quickly shot down by several members of the Saluki Athletic department with one source calling the rumors “ludicrous.”
