For the second time in three years, Bill Self is the highest-paid men’s basketball coach in the country, according to USA TODAY Sports’ annual review of coaching compensation.

The Kansas head coach signed an amended contract last year that pushed his school pay, as calculated by USA TODAY Sports, to $9.45 million for the 2023-24 season − the highest one-year total for a public-school coach since the newspaper began tracking basketball coach compensation in 2007.

Included was a $1 million signing bonus that pushed Self’s school compensation past that of Kentucky coach John Calipari, who ranks second at $8.5 million. Self also earned nearly $172,000 in outside income, bringing his total pay for the year to $9.63 million.

‘The success of our men’s basketball program has served as a beacon for the University of Kansas for generations, profoundly impacting enrollment, increasing alumni engagement, and driving revenues that help fund other sports programs and department initiatives,’ Kansas athletics director Travis Goff told USA TODAY Sports in an email.

‘This contract is a direct reflection of those outcomes and Coach Self’s stature as a Hall of Fame coach and exceptional representative for the University of Kansas.’

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A breakdown of how much Self is being paid by Kansas this year:

What is Bill Self’s salary in 2023-24?

Self’s ‘base salary’ is technically $500,000 per year − but that’s just a tiny portion of the guaranteed money he is receiving from Kansas.

Self is pocketing a total of $6.7 million this season in professional services and royalty payments, which basically require him to participate in advertisements, speaking events and media appearances, among other ancillary activities. That combined amount will increase to $6.9 million next year, and then an average of $300,000 in each of the next three years after that − essentially giving him a built-in raise.

Kansas also spends $240,000 per year on Self’s membership to private jet charter company Wheels Up, among other perks. And then, of course, there are his retention bonuses.

Retention bonuses?

These payouts have been a staple of Self’s contracts for more than a decade. While the term ‘bonus’ is sometimes used to describe them, all Self has to do to earn them is stay employed at Kansas.

Under his new deal, which is automatically extended by one year at the end of each season, he automatically accrues a pro-rated $1 million per year, on top of his usual salary and benefits − which works out to $2,740 in what is essentially deferred income for every day he coaches the Jayhawks.

These retention bonuses can get complicated because, at least in Self’s case, they have been paid at different times than they are earned.

For example, Self is receiving money in his bank account this season in connection with two retention bonuses that he previously earned. And the aforementioned $1 million per year that he is currently earning will not actually hit his bank account until 2028 and 2029, or the day he leaves Kansas, whichever happens first. (USA TODAY Sports has avoided double-counting these amounts by including the money when he earns it, because his contract does not outline any instance or reasons why it would not ultimately be paid to him once earned.)

Goff wrote that the deferrals have helped Kansas manage its finances coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic and move forward with facilities updates, including to Allen Fieldhouse, where the men’s and women’s basketball teams play their games.

‘The department and Coach Self fully align on the notion that personnel investments should not preclude continued investment in other key priorities,’ Goff wrote.

What bonuses does Bill Self get?

On top of all the retention bonuses, Self can earn a cumulative amount of up to $800,000 if he or the team meet a list of nine benchmarks, based on academic or athletic performance.

The biggest payouts available to Self come with a national championship victory ($200,000) or Final Four appearance ($150,000), or if Self is named the Associated Press’ coach of the year ($100,000).

These bonus provisions are one of several ways in which Self’s contract differs from Calipari’s, which only has a single bonus for $50,000 tied to the team’s academic performance.

Will Bill Self be the highest-paid coach next year?

As of now, yes. Barring any dramatic changes in their respective contracts or outside income, Self will just squeak past Calipari again in 2024-25, with guaranteed compensation of roughly $8.6 million to Calipari’s $8.5 million.

Calipari, however, is then scheduled to receive a raise to $9 million for 2025-26, which would put him back on top.

Should all of that happen, it would mark nine consecutive seasons in which either Calipari or Self was the highest-paid public school coach in the country. The last time someone else topped USA TODAY Sports’ compensation rankings was 2016-17, when Rick Pitino led the list in his final year at Louisville.

Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on social media @Tom_Schad and Steve Berkowitz at sberkowi@usatoday.com or @ByBerkowitz

The term ‘mid-major conference’ is a bone of contention in collegiate athletics. The label, after all, implies that a league is not among the top tier in a particular sport.

As far as men’s basketball is concerned, the Mountain West Conference is arguably not deserving of the mid-major distinction. Indeed, when the NCAA tournament bracket is unveiled later this week, the MWC will be on par with several of the so-called power conferences in terms of the number of bids it receives. And, lest we forget, one of the conference’s representatives played for the national championship last year.

The latest Bracketology projection for the tournament field has the Mountain West garnering six bids, behind only the Big 12 and SEC. Said 2023 runner-up, San Diego State, will be among them. Also included is regular-season champion Utah State, the teams that tied for second − Boise State and Nevada, along with Colorado State and New Mexico.

Six team is not an unheard-of accomplishment for a so-called non-power conference. The Atlantic 10 had six make the field in 2014. But that’s the only time since the tournament expanded in 1985 and would better the most teams for the Mountain West, which had five in 2013 as its high-water mark.

‘It’s great recognition,’ said Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez. ‘We’re beating up on each other now, but I think educated bracketologists and voters recognize that and are keeping our teams in, and I think that is certainly warranted.’

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San Diego State’s tournament run helps Mountain West?

While officially not considered in the committee room when evaluating this year’s teams, there’s no doubt that San Diego State’s achievement last season boosted the conference’s reputation.

‘Certainly that was a huge hallmark for us,’ Nevarez said. ‘We’d been below our own expectations the last few years, so that was a huge breakthrough moment.’

But the primary driver of the pending tournament haul is the overall performance in the NCAA’s NET rankings. The six teams in question all finished the regular season in the top 36 of the tool used by the tournament committee. Only one conference has done better – the Big 12 with seven. Ranking behind the Mountain West are all the major leagues − the SEC (5), Big East (4), Big Ten (4), ACC (3) and Pac-12 (2).

‘That’s just this league. This is crazy,’ said Boise State coach Leon Rice after last week’s home loss to Nevada. ‘… Now that we’re at this point in the season and I’ve seen everybody, this is by far the best we’ve been top to bottom.’

How did the Mountain West become a NET powerhouse?

As a whole, the MWC went 73% in non-conference play with a good collection of quality results. Among them were defeats of expected tournament teams Creighton (Colorado State and UNLV), Saint Mary’s (San Diego State and Boise State), Gonzaga (San Diego State), TCU (Nevada) and Colorado (Colorado State).

The NET success was not due to an overarching strategy from league headquarters, according to Nevarez.

‘We talk about it (scheduling), but we don’t have any mandated non-conference guidelines,’ she said. ‘But I think the schools get it – they know that you have to schedule well and get those non-conference wins . I think the main thing in this league right now is there’s just a lot of talent in the coaches room.’

The fact is, lest outside observers accuse the league of gaming the system somehow, the teams in this conference are good.

Could the Mountain West get seven teams?

There’s the potential for a seventh Mountain West team to crash the party.

UNLV finished fourth in the league standings after going just 7-5 in its pre-conference contests. The Rebels posted 11 conference wins, including a sweep of New Mexico and defeats of San Diego State, Boise State and Colorado State. An at-large berth is unlikely with their NET at 75 but winning three games to early the Mountain West’s automatic berth isn’t out of the realm of possibility.

The tournament will be played at UNLV’s home arena, the Thomas & Mack Center. However, a deep run likely will include knocking off some of the league’s other contenders on the edge of the bubble, depending on how the rest of the tournament plays out.

TAMPA, Fla. – Whatever appeared on Gerrit Cole’s MRI Monday regarding his achy elbow, Yankees officials have surely been appraised of those results.

But nothing was made publicly available Tuesday, in this period of medical staff consultations and second opinions before setting a course of action and releasing its details.

At the very least, Cole was all but officially ruled out as the Yankees’ Opening Day starter on March 28, at Houston, with Marcus Stroman now a leading candidate for that assignment.

Across Tampa Bay at Dunedin, where the Yankees dropped an 8-1 afternoon exhibition game against the Toronto Blue Jays, manager Aaron Boone told reporters Cole was to receive additional medical tests Tuesday.

Cole made a cameo appearance Tuesday at Steinbrenner Field, but the right-handed Yankees ace did not address the media about his condition.

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To recap, Cole complained of a mid-season type of arm fatigue in his spring training build-up, which consisted of three outings but only one Grapefruit League game, March 1.

“He described it as his recovery, leading into his next start, has been more akin to what he feels in the season when he’s making 100 pitches,’’ Boone said Monday.

Cole’s previous outing was last Thursday, a controlled 47-pitch simulated game in which he was hit hard by the likes of Ben Rortvedt. Cole drew just three swings and misses in that outing, but he expressed afterward that he was generally pleased with his workday.

“To see him the other (day) when he’s still throwing 97-98 miles-per-hour – I know he’s not bouncing back the way he (expects) but he’s a perfectionist,’’ said Yankees captain Aaron Judge.

“So, I’m hoping for the best news, even if it’s him being out a couple of weeks, whatever it is. I’ll take that over anything worse.’’

When Steve Kerr reached a two-year, $35 million deal in February to remain Golden State’s head coach through 2025-26, it made him the highest-paid coach in the NBA.

That compensation and recognition for a job well done was not a surprise.

The eye-openers? Split evenly at $17.5 million per season, Kerr will make more in one season as the Warriors’ coach than he did earning $15.9 million in 15 seasons as an NBA player, according to spotrac.com. Also, the figure is triple what at least eight NBA head coaches make each year.

NBA head coaches are well paid, especially at the high-end spectrum. At least six of them are paid more than $10 million per season, including Kerr, San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich, Miami’s Erik Spoelstra, Detroit’s Monty Williams, Denver’s Michael Malone and Milwaukee’s Doc Rivers, according to people with contract details, USA TODAY Sports research and other reports.

Several people requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the contracts.

Popovich, who has been San Antonio’s coach since 1996, is a Hall of Famer, the NBA’s all-time winningest coach and has led the Spurs to five NBA titles. Spoelstra began coaching the Heat in 2009 and has won two titles and coached in six Finals. Kerr took over the Warriors in 2015, has guided them to four titles and among coaches with at least five years of experience, he has the fifth-best winning percentage all-time. Williams led Phoenix to the 2021 Finals.

Kerr, Spoelstra and Popovich make at least 50% more than the highest-paid Division I men’s basketball head coach earns based on USA TODAY Sports’ database of college coaches’ salaries. That honor goes to Kansas’ Bill Self at $9.6 million this season. While some college coaches make more than some NBA coaches, there is not the same ire among NBA coaches as MLB managers who were bothered by how underpaid they are compared to some college baseball coaches.

It’s not a surprise that a handful of college coaches such as Self, Kentucky’s John Calipari, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, Auburn’s Bruce Pearl and Tennessee’s Rick Barnes make more than some NBA coaches. They are often the face – and sometimes the most prominent voice – of the university.

Still, the salary floor for NBA head coaches is in the $4 million range which puts them above most college coaches. There are 19 college coaches in the USA TODAY salary database making at least $4 million this season, but even first-time NBA head coaches, such as Toronto’s Darko Rajokovic and Utah’s Will Hardy, hover in the $4 million per season range, according to people with knowledge of coaching contracts.

∎ Spoelstra’s contract extension with the Heat agreed to in January is worth $120 million over eight seasons.

∎ Williams accepted the Pistons’ offer of six years, $78.5 million in June.

∎ Popovich, who also serves as the Spurs’ president of operations, averages $16 million a season in a five-year deal that went into effect this season.

Los Angeles Clippers coach Ty Lue is not at the $10 million per season mark but is expected to reach that on his next deal. Other coaches, such as Indiana’s Rick Carlisle, Philadelphia’s Nick Nurse, Dallas’ Jason Kidd, Atlanta’s Quin Snyder and Houston’s Ime Udoka are in the $7 million-$8 million range.

In the NBA, leverage remains one of the key factors to negotiating for more money. Rivers had it after the Bucks dismissed Adrian Griffin and sought a new coach in the middle of this season. Coaches like Nurse, who led Toronto to the championship in 2019, and Malone, who won a title with the Nuggets last season, also had negotiating power.

Phoenix’s Frank Vogel, Chicago’s Billy Donovan, New York’s Tom Thibodeau, Charlotte’s Steve Clifford, Orlando’s Jamahl Mosley, Portland’s Chauncey Billups and Sacramento’s Mike Brown are among coaches in the $4 million-$6 million range annually.

NBA lead assistant coaches average just under $1 million per season – in the $800,000-$900,000 range. However, some assistants with previous head coaching experience can make more. Portland assistant Scott Brooks negotiated a deal close to $1.5 million a season. Then, there’s Phoenix assistant Kevin Young, who had leverage. Young, 42, is one of the league’s bright, up-and-coming coaches, and the Suns didn’t want to lose him to another team. They gave him more than $2 million per season to stay after Vogel got the top job.

Highest-paid NBA head coaches

1. Steve Kerr, two-year, $35 million extension through 2025-26 season

2. Gregg Popovich, five-year, $80 million contract

3. Erik Spoelstra, eight-year, $120 million extension

4. Monty Williams, six-year, $78.5 million contract

Follow NBA reporter Jeff Zillgitt on social media @JeffZillgitt

It is a good thing no one expects Hall of Fame busts to be true representations of the people they’re depicting. Otherwise, Canton would have to build an entire new wing to accommodate the size of Aaron Rodgers’ head someday.

Any last doubt Rodgers is all about Rodgers and no one else was put to rest Tuesday, when Robert F. Kennedy Jr. confirmed he is considering the New York Jets quarterback to be his running mate. In fact, Kennedy told the New York Times, he and Rodgers have been speaking “pretty continuously” for the past month.

I’m sure the conversations were fascinating. Does Rodgers think his ability to pick up the blitz makes him qualified to advise Kennedy on military strategy? Does he believe his success in getting washed-up teammates sweetheart deals with the Jets makes him an expert negotiator who can get a budget through Congress? Does he think experimenting with magic mushrooms has prepared him to oversee the Food and Drug Administration?

Or, let me guess, he and Kennedy think right-wing Christians will hear about Rodgers’ penchant for throwing Hail Marys and see him as one of their own.

Give me a break.

Believing an NFL quarterback who styles himself as one of the great thinkers of his generation while spinning the greatest hits of conspiracy theories — COVID vaccine denier? Jeffrey Epstein? 9/11 truther? Check, check and check again — is a suitable VP ought to tell everyone how wholly unserious Kennedy’s campaign actually is. Vice President Rodgers would make Tommy Tuberville look like an esteemed statesman rather than the fool he’s proven himself time and again to be.

But the larger revelation is how little Rodgers cares about the Jets. Or anyone, really, besides himself.

When somebody figures out what being on a presidential ticket has to do with winning, please let me know. Maybe tell Woody Johnson and Robert Saleh, too.

Let’s pretend, just for funsies, that this isn’t a charade designed to remind people RFK is still in the race and bump Russell Wilson and Kirk Cousins out of the headlines. That Kennedy and Rodgers are serious about this. How exactly would this work?

The NFL is a full-time job and then some, as is being part of a presidential campaign. Trying to do both, especially when the height of the campaign overlaps with the NFL season, would mean Rodgers would be short-changing the Jets and RFK, his mind on both and his full focus on neither. Is he not going to practice or is he not going to campaign? Is he going to miss this game or skip this appearance?

The Jets practice facility and MetLife Stadium would be crawling with the extra security required for Rodgers, to say nothing of the throng of reporters that travels with every campaign. Those folks aren’t fanbois like Pat McAfee, either, which means they’d actually be fact-checking Rodgers on his nonsense. And since Rodgers isn’t nearly as smart as he thinks he is, that would mean a Distraction of the Day from now until Nov. 5, with the Jets front office, Saleh and his teammates caught up in the crossfire.

The circus that surrounded the “miracle comeback” from a torn Achilles will seem quaint by comparison.

Unless … Rodgers plans to sit out the season if Kennedy taps him as his running mate. Which would leave the Jets in ruins.

Again.

Rodgers knows full well the Jets have built their entire team with the four-time MVP in mind, accommodating his every whim even when it isn’t necessarily the best thing for the team. Nathaniel Hackett, Allen Lazard, Tim Boyle — shall I continue? Rodgers also knows what happens if he’s not available, having watched that dumpster fire after he got hurt four plays into the season opener last year.

It doesn’t go unnoticed that this news broke after the best free-agent QBs were off the market. Wilson (Pittsburgh Steelers) and Cousins (Atlanta Falcons) went to new teams and Baker Mayfield got a new deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Jets? They got Tyrod Taylor.

If Rodgers isn’t going to play, the Jets can kiss yet another season goodbye and Saleh can start updating his resume. Even if he does, being willing to entertain the cockamamie idea of being RFK’s VP has to make the Jets wonder about his level of commitment.

Rodgers isn’t VP material. That he’s allowing himself to be included in this conversation confirms he’s not a team player, either. Rodgers is all about Aaron Rodgers.

How’s that for a campaign slogan?

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.