Frazier, Wallace get
contract extensions

The deals become official at
the next BOR meeting in July

Multi-year contract extensions for University of Hawaii athletic director Herman Frazier and basketball coach Riley Wallace were approved yesterday by the Board of Regents, sources close to the situation told the Star-Bulletin.

The new deals, five years for Frazier and two years for Wallace, become official at the next board meeting, in July.

The regents' decisions on Frazier and Wallace were made after discussion during private executive sessions yesterday. Frazier, Wallace and board members declined comment.

UH president David McClain also would not announce the athletic department outcomes after a long day at Leeward Community College that also included the firing of Manoa chancellor Peter Englert and the resignation of medical school dean Edwin Cadman.

"We can't say anything (about Frazier and Wallace) until we post the agenda for the next meeting," McClain said. "Until then we can't make any comment. But we understand the interest."

The previous contracts of Frazier and Wallace both called for a base salary of $210,000 per year. Financial details of the new deals are not available.

Frazier, 50, became UH athletic director in 2002 after serving in that post at Alabama-Birmingham. The athletic department is operating in a deficit of more than $4.5 million, but the board last year approved a five-year plan by Frazier to make the department self-sufficient. That plan was put ahead of schedule when Frazier secured a TV contract earlier this month that brings in an unprecedented $1.75 million in rights fees per year.

He also helped secure an $800,000-per-year contract for football coach June Jones with half of the funds coming from private donations.

Frazier also has a plan to raise $25 million from the private sector for improvements to athletic department facilities, and he is negotiating for a better rent deal with Aloha Stadium.

Wallace, 63, has been UH's head basketball coach since 1987. His record at UH is 299-241 and 314-268 overall.

The Rainbows have won three WAC championships and have reached either the NCAA Tournament or National Invitation Tournament nine times in Wallace's career, including four of the last five years. UH missed out on both last season with a 16-13 record.

Wallace first worked at UH as an associate coach under Larry Little from 1978 to 1981.