FAYETTEVILLE — With no set date on when games will resume, athletics directors around the country have had to put contract negotiations on hold.
That includes University of Arkansas women's basketball coach Mike Neighbors, who has had preliminary discussions with UA athletics director Hunter Yurachek about extending his contract that runs through April 2023.
"I think he and I are in agreement right now that those discussions will be ongoing," Yurachek said last week, "but we're not in a great climate to really talk about any type of major changes to his contract right now.
"Mike Neighbors wants to be here. Mike Neighbors has done a great job and he deserves to be compensated and have a contract that is reflective of the program that he’s building within the Southeastern Conference, and when the time is right we’ll make sure Mike Neighbors is taken care of.”
Neighbors, a UA graduate who just completed his third season with the Razorbacks, said Wednesday he is not worried about his contract, which pays him $482,000 per year before incentives.
Neighbors was hired in April 2017 at a $600,000 annual salary, but restructured the contract 18 months later to include a provision for the UA to pay the remainder of his $990,000 contract buyout at the University of Washington.
Initially the Razorbacks had agreed to pay $350,000 of Neighbors' buyout, according to his amended contract in October 2018.
"'I've told (Yurachek) put that all the way down at the very bottom of your to-do list," Neighbors said of further changes to his contract. "Make it the last thing and if we ever get to it that would be great. There is so much more important right now. Everybody knows I want to be at Arkansas for the rest of my life."
Neighbors said a contract extension would help in recruiting athletes who would likely be at Arkansas past the 2022-23 season.
"It is important because it helps recruits know that I'm going to be here," he said. "So, when I walk into the homes of these (recruits) in the near future they can look for the evidence of it. There is proof that I'm going to be their head coach.
"I don't explore other jobs. I'm not looking at what other jobs are out there. I want to keep the one I've got; make it something that everyone is proud of."
Neighbors improved the Razorbacks' win total from 13 games in his first season to 24 in the recently-completed season. Counting games at the SEC Tournament, Arkansas won a program-record 12 games against SEC teams this year.
The Razorbacks were considered a lock to play in the NCAA Tournament but never got the chance. The tournament was canceled the week before it was scheduled to begin.
Although Arkansas was never officially announced as a tournament team, Yurachek said Neighbors received the $25,000 postseason bonus in his contract.
"I did implement the bonuses for Mike Neighbors and his staff," Yurachek said. "I believe with a great deal of certainty that they would’ve made the NCAA Tournament."
Yurachek also implemented the bonuses for first-year Arkansas gymnastics coach Jordyn Wieber and her staff. He said he decided not to give bonuses to coaches in spring sports because they were still early in their seasons.
"I thought the fairest way to (give bonuses) was to exercise those options for our winter sports that were toward the end of their seasons," Yurachek said.
Tom Murphy and Matt Jones contributed