[ UH ATHLETICS ]
Football team’s
grades leave Jones
without contract bonus
Since becoming the University of Hawaii football coach in 1999, June Jones has missed out on tens of thousands of dollars in incentive pay because his players failed to achieve academic benchmarks.
UH officials said yesterday that the players' academic performance was not good enough to trigger bonus payments to Jones in each of the past four years.
Under his soon-to-expire five-year contract, Jones is entitled to a $10,000 annual bonus when his first-year scholarship players achieve a collective grade point average of 2.7 or better.
He is eligible for another $10,000 annual bonus when his team's academic achievement reaches a level set by the UH athletic director and himself.
Jones did not return a call to his office.
But UH's football media guide noted that the football team's average GPA has risen from 2.46 to 2.7 since he arrived in 1999. During the spring semester, about a third of UH's more than 100 players had a GPA of 3.0 or higher.
Jones' contract has been a source of criticism on the budget-strapped Manoa campus as the university, with the help of private donors, is set to double his annual compensation to about $800,000.
UH ethnic studies Professor Noel Kent, who has called for the UH regents to reject Jones' new contract, said the football team's academic performance shows that education isn't a priority for Jones.
"He might be a good coach but he's not doing the job as far as educating his students. That's our mission here," Kent said. "The message this sends to the faculty is that education doesn't matter and football and sports are in the main seat."
The team's academic record was just one of several follow-up details released yesterday by UH officials regarding Jones contract. The university had withheld Jones' contract from the public until last month when the state Office of Information Practices concluded that there is enough of a significant public interest in the matter to justify releasing the contract.
Published reports have estimated the value of Jones' first contract at about $400,000 a year but UH officials yesterday said that Jones' pay was significantly less than that amount.
UH said it paid Jones $248,235 in 1999, $319,762 in 2000, $259,308 in 2001 and $309,100 in 2002. The university also said that Jones received $52,702 during the past four years for his children to attend Punahou School, Holy Nativity School and West Hills Christian School on the mainland.
Jones has previously defended his contract, saying he turned down more lucrative coaching offers elsewhere.
Jones also has said his new $800,000-a-year contract will not cost taxpayers more than his current contract because the difference will be picked up by private donors.
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Wahine coach Shoji
trails in UH salaries
Hawaii volleyball coach Dave Shoji has led the Rainbow Wahine to four national championships and an 808-148-1 record in more than 28 years at UH and his program has consistently turned a profit.
He also receives the lowest compensation package (including possible incentives) among the four head coaches of arena sports teams at Manoa.
The contracts of Shoji, Vince Goo (women's basketball), Mike Trapasso (baseball), Riley Wallace (men's basketball) and Mike Wilton (men's volleyball) were released by UH to the Star-Bulletin yesterday in response to a written request last month. Also last month, UH released football coach June Jones' contract from 1999. Details of Jones' new contract may be released Friday when UH's Board of Regents meets on Maui.
As expected, the compensation of UH's other coaches is dwarfed by Jones' new contract, which will pay him $800,016 per year, plus incentives.
Shoji, whose five-year contract expired last January, is paid a salary of $95,004 per year. But he has only $6,500 in potential incentives ($2,500 for a team grade point average of 2.90 and $4,000 for appearing in the NCAA final four).
Shoji received a $5,000 raise in 2001, but also said he lost around $6,000 per year because he used to have a coach's show.
"It's something I used to have, but it's not in the contract," Shoji said.
While negotiations for a new contract remain in limbo, Shoji said the ball is in his court.
"Well, they've not offered me (a contract). It's kind of like they want me to present something to them. I haven't done something on that," Shoji said in a telephone interview last night. "We'll sit down pretty soon. I'm in no hurry."
UH expects to finalize a new deal for Shoji soon -- as well as for Trapasso, whose contract expires after next season, UH Athletic Director Herman Frazier said through a spokeswoman last night.
"The department expects to renew them within the next couple of months," UH athletics media relations director Lois Manin said.
Shoji's team was one of four UH sports programs to make a profit ($312,137) during the 2001-2002 fiscal year. The others are football ($840,423), men's volleyball ($271,147) and men's basketball ($180,009). (Numbers for 2002-2003 are not yet available, but Shoji said women's volleyball made a profit again.)
Shoji, 56, said he hopes his new contract includes more incentives. He will also request tuition help for his sons who go to private high schools, as Jones receives as part of his contract.
"I'm going to ask about it. Everybody read what's in June's contract," Shoji said.
Shoji said he has no plans of leaving Hawaii or the Rainbow Wahine over compensation issues.
"My previous contract was done five years ago," said Shoji, whose team is 4-1 as it prepares for this weekend's Aston Imua Challenge tournament at the Stan Sheriff Center. "A lot of things have changed. The climate for coaches' salaries has changed. I'm sure we'll sit down and find something agreeable to both parties."
Incentives for other coaches include:
>> Goo: Four separate incentives of one-month's salary each for advancing in the NCAA Tournament.The contracts of Wilton and Wallace, which were negotiated and signed after Frazier became athletic director in August, 2002, both contain morals clauses. All five contracts released by UH yesterday have provisions for car leases through the university, as well as other perks similar, though generally not as extensive, as those in Jones' contract. These include airline tickets, season tickets to UH sports, and parking passes.>> Trapasso: 10 different incentives, ranging from $10,000 if the team wins 35 games or more to $10,000 if he is named National Coach of the Year and several others for post-season play.
>> Wilton: One month's salary for making it to the NCAA final four, $5,000 for winning the national championship match.
>> Wallace: Eight different incentives, ranging from $2,500 for every win during the regular season beyond 19 (including conference tournament games except the final) to $100,000 for winning the national championships.
