With two days left on her contract as the women's basketball coach, Tracy Roller signed a four-year deal Thursday that pays her a base salary of $181,000 per year, a 70 percent bump over last year's salary.
The deal guarantees the most successful women's basketball coach in Ball State history will receive at least $724,000 over the next four years and locks her in as coach until March 31, 2011.
Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Tom Collins said he wanted Roller to understand her importance to Ball State's athletic program.
"She's built the program and we're proud of that," Collins said. "I'm proud that the university is committed to her program, and I think the most important thing that we can do at Ball State is invest in our coaches."
Collins gave Roller a verbal contract offer on March 19, the day Ball State hosted a women's National Invitational Tournament game against the University of Kentucky.
Roller's current contract started in 2001 and paid her $85,000 in its first year, increasing to $106,610 this year. The new agreement equals that of men's basketball coach Ronny Thompson as the highest-paid Ball State coach. It is more than the $157,970 the Cardinals' football coach Brady Hoke will receive next season.
Collins said there are also more incentive opportunities for Roller under the new contract. Roller will receive incentives for being the Mid-American Conference's Coach of the Year, National Coach of the Year, winning the MAC Tournament and leading the team to the NCAA Tournament. She would also receive a smaller incentive for an appearance in the women's NIT.
Roller said she is prepared for the heightened expectations that come with her new contract.
"I'm ready to work whatever [the administration] wants me to do and be whatever they need me to be because I understand what this salary means at this level," Roller said. "I'm very honored and privileged and I'm going to work my tail off. I think it shows a lot about the commitment this administration has for women's basketball."
Roller said it was her commitment to her assistant coaching staff that delayed the contract agreement. Both associate coach Lisa McDonald and assistant coach Mike Geary had their contracts expire Saturday. According to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, McDonald and Geary received $51,250 and $44,000, respectively, last season.
According to documents, assistant coach Rekha Hollomon's contract does not expire until March 31, 2008. Hollomon will receive $36,900 next season.
Roller said all three salaries were raised and both McDonald and Geary were given a new contract.
"The only thing I really negotiated was my assistants' salaries. That's what this week was kind of about - my assistants," Roller said. "They are everything. My staff and my team are the reason why I'm here. I wanted to make sure that they were included."
Players excited for opportunity to play under Roller next season
During the season, Roller used text messaging to communicate with her players. As news spread about her new contract Thursday, Roller used that familiar form of communication to relay the information to the team.
"In typical form for me, I text messaged everyone," Roller said with a laugh. "That took place [at 2:30 p.m.]. This day's been a whirlwind and I knew the team was all in class right now and all over the place. So I just text messaged them and to me that's a very personal [means of communication]."
Most of Roller's players showed up for the 4:30 p.m. press conference that announced Roller's new contract. Starting forward Lisa Rusche, who will be a senior next season, said she was happy to have negotiations finalized.
"Every day somebody new comes up to me and is like, 'Oh, aren't you on the women's basketball team. Oh yeah, is your coach coming back,'" Rusche said. "It's great that they notice us and recognize us and are interested in our program and what we're doing. I'm just glad that I can finally say, 'Yeah, she's coming back.'"
Julie DeMuth, who earned First Team All-MAC honors this year and will also be a senior next season, said she also was happy the wait was over. While DeMuth said it was nice for the uncertainty of next season to dissipate, she added there was never much doubt Roller would be her coach next season.
"We knew this [deal] was going to get done; it was just the when and the uncertainty that got to everybody," DeMuth said. "Coach Roller is a great role model. She's a great individual, and Ball State should be really happy to have her. Even though there hadn't been a deal, there was never any reason for us to think she wouldn't be here next season."
While wins are generally a major factor in the monetary means of contracts, Collins said there was an added element in this particular negotiation. Throughout the season, Collins listened to the praises of both the Ball State community and the Cardinal players.
Though Roller's 115-65 record during the past six years at Ball State warranted a high monetary figure, Collins said the relationships she built here at Ball State also played a vital role.
"Tracy's connected with the students, she's connected with the community," Collins said. "I think she's connected with members of the Cardinals Varsity Club and I think she's connected with the faculty here on campus. This has been an on-going thing where she's built relationships over the years. We wanted to make sure she had the chance to continue those."
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