Georgia Tech Basketball: How much does it cost to win in the ACC?

I started to read Paul Hewitt's contract the other day. It's a pretty interesting document that really gives him a lot of leverage. He makes around $1.35 million per year with this deal and is guaranteed six years at this rate for a buyout ($8.1 million). So I wanted to kinda see how much it's cost Georgia Tech since 2004 to get an ACC win.

Before Hewitt's raise after the 2004 Final 4, he was making $225,000 in base salary and about $350,000 in bonuses and appearance fees. His initial 2001 salary at Georgia Tech was only $150,000 per year. So for argument's sake, let's say Hewitt averaged around $500,000 with additional compensation during the 2001-2004 ACC seasons. That averages to about $60,000 per win. Hewitt's record in ACC play was 33-37 (47.1%) over this span.

Insert new Dave Braine contract at an average of $1.19 mil per year.

Hewitt's cost per win jumps from $60k to $166k. His 2005-2010 ACC record of 43-66 (39.4%) is worse than when he had his cheaper contract. Not only is each win 52% more expensive for the GT Athletic Association and the GT fan base but it's also harder to come by wins since that faithful contract extension in mid-2004.

I guess the next logical step would be to compare Hewitt's salary/record with other ACC coaches during his tenure. I'm sure we'll find some interesting comparisons. According to the Charleston rag, Oliver Purnell made roughly $700,000 per year during his tenure at Clemson. This equates to about $98,000 per Clemson ACC win.

Everywhere I look for Roy Williams numbers, I find really odd figures and vague information so we're going with an average of $1.9 mil per year from assorted sources. UNC's cost per ACC win: $173,000. That's a little less efficient than Georgia Tech but they've also won a couple national titles in there to keep the moneys flowing.

Gary Williams has had several big raises. It was hard to find much on Williams beyond 2002 so I went with an average salary of $1.2 million meaning the University of Maryland averaged $137k per ACC victory since 2002, which is markedly better than Tech and UNC.

I guess Coach K is the King Ding-a-ling of the ACC but it's hard to find accurate salaries for him as sources say he makes anywhere from 3-4 million per year. The odd private school rules make researching Coach K pretty hard as the "arms race" in coaches' salaries has really pushed K's salary into another dimension. Either way, he's worth whatever exorbitant amount of money they throw at him.

The only other teams I wanted to spend time on were VT and NC State. Seth Greenberg made roughly $112,000 per ACC win over his run at Virginia Tech. Sidney Lowe makes a laughable $150,000 per ACC win. Hopefully, this gives you a little perspective into the contract of Paul Hewitt and some other ACC coaches.