Todd Golden helped the University of Florida claim the top spot in men’s basketball, but he did not come close to claiming the top spot in a tally of bonuses stacked up by public-school men’s coaches whose teams played in the NCAA Tournament.

Golden’s total of $175,000 in bonuses was ninth-best among this group, based on a USA TODAY Sports analysis of coaches’ contracts — and a fraction of the $1.2 million that Tennessee’s Rick Barnes will be getting for the Volunteers’ advance to the Elite Eight and No. 5 ranking in the final Associated Press media poll.

Now, some context is in order here. At age 39, Golden is the youngest coach to win the men’s championship since North Carolina State’s Jim Valvano, who was 37 when the Wolfpack won it in 1983. He also just completed his third season as Florida’s head coach and his sixth season as a head coach overall — and this was the first time he had led a team beyond the first round of the tournament.

Golden’s total pay for this season is set to be $3.6 million, which put him 34th in the USA TODAY Sports annual survey of men’s basketball coaches’ pay, which covers those in the Power Four conferences and those outside the Power Four whose schools had participated in at least three of the past five NCAA tournaments.

So, it is understandable that — at least for this season — his compensation and bonus arrangements were not as lucrative as those for long-established coaches like Barnes, or Auburn’s Bruce Pearl and Houston’s Kelvin Sampson (each of whom ended with $500,000 in bonuses).

Extraordinarily accomplished women’s basketball head coaches Geno Auriemma of Connecticut and Dawn Staley of South Carolina also out-earned Golden in bonuses and in their totals of pay, plus bonuses. Auriemma’s grand total was just under $4.1 million, including $737,500 in bonuses as he won his 12th NCAA title. Three-time champion Staley’s was $4.28 million, including $380,000 in bonuses, as she led the Gamecocks to their fifth consecutive Final Four and finished as runner-up.

Also, Golden’s basic annual pay for this season is greater than two other coaches who had more bonus winnings than he did — Clemson’s Brad Brownell ($3.5 million, plus $300,000 in bonuses) and Colorado State’s Niko Medved, now at Minnesota ($1.7 million, plus $240,000 in bonuses).

Below is an itemized, school-by-school list for all public-school coaches whose teams advanced to the Sweet 16 of the men’s tournament, alphabetical by school.

In addition to those, there are 11 coaches with bonus totals ranging from $75,000 to Brownell’s $300,000.

The list does not take into account contingencies that could alter or prevent payment of bonuses, such as academic achievement by players, the coach’s departure from the school, future investigations and/or sanctions related to rules violations. It also does not include bonuses for national coach-of-the-year honors not yet announced, team academic performance, attendance, season-ticket sales, or the value of tickets or perks tied to tournament participation.

This also does not include bonuses and/or pay increases for assistant coaches, staff and athletics directors that also may be resulting from these achievements. 

Amounts for coaches at private schools are not available because those institutions are not required to release their employment contracts.

Alabama’s Nate Oats – $125,000

► $50,000: NCAA Tournament bid

► $25,000: NCAA round of 32 appearance

► $25,000: NCAA round of 16 appearance

► $25,000: NCAA round of 8 appearance

Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd – $115,000

► $20,000: 20 to 24 regular-season wins

► $25,000: NCAA round of 32 appearance

► $50,000: NCAA round of 16 appearance

► $20,000: No. 15 through 11 in final USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll or Associated Press media poll

Arkansas’ John Calipari – Contract extension, $250,000 raise

Note: Calipari can get no lump sum bonuses.

► 1-year contract extension, $50,000 raise, beginning next season: NCAA Tournament bid (Agreement set to run through April 30, 2030.)

► Additional $50,000 raise: NCAA round of 32 appearance

► Additional $150,000 raise: NCAA round of 16 appearance

(Scheduled total pay for added contract year now stands at $7.75 million, with $5,437,500 guaranteed.)

Auburn’s Bruce Pearl – $500,000

► $100,000: Southeastern Conference regular-season title

► $50,000: SEC coach of the year

► $50,000: NCAA Tournament bid

► $50,000: NCAA round of 16 appearance

► $100,000: NCAA round of 8 appearance

► $100,000: NCAA Final Four appearance

► $50,000: National coach of the year by National Association of Basketball Coaches and Associated Press (co-coach of the year) – 1 payment awarded

Florida’s Todd Golden – $175,000

► $25,000: SEC tournament title

► $37,500: NCAA Tournament bid

► $37,500: NCAA round of 16 appearance

► $25,000: NCAA Final Four appearance

► $50,000: Win NCAA title

Houston’s Kelvin Sampson – $500,000

► $100,000: NCAA round of 16 appearance

► $100,000: NCAA round of 8 appearance

► $300,000: NCAA Final Four appearance

Note: Sampson’s next available bonus was for team winning NCAA title

Kentucky’s Mark Pope – Contract extension, $50,000 bonus

► 1-year contract extension, $50,000 bonus: NCAA round of 16 appearance

(Agreement set to run through March 31, 2030. Scheduled total pay for added contract year is $6.25 million, with $4,687,500 guaranteed.)

Maryland’s Kevin Willard – $130,000

► $25,000: NCAA Tournament bid

► $30,000: NCAA round of 32 appearance

► $75,000: NCAA round of 16 appearance

Michigan’s Dusty May – $150,000

Note: School has announced it reached new contract agreement with May, but school has not yet released that document.

► $50,000: Big Ten Conference tournament title

► $50,000: NCAA Tournament bid (round of 64)

► $25,000: NCAA round of 32 appearance

► $25,000: NCAA round of 16 appearance

Michigan State’s Tom Izzo – $200,000

► $100,000: Big Ten Conference regular-season title

► $25,000: NCAA Tournament bid

► $75,000: NCAA round of 16 appearance

Note: Izzo’s next available bonus was for team reaching Final Four

Mississippi’s Chris Beard – $200,000

► $100,000: NCAA Tournament bid

► $50,000: NCAA round of 32 appearance

► $50,000: NCAA round of 16 appearance

Purdue’s Matt Painter – $90,000

► $30,000: NCAA Tournament bid

► $30,000: NCAA round of 32 appearance

► $30,000: NCAA round of 16 appearance

Tennessee’s Rick Barnes – $1,200,000

► $200,000: NCAA tournament bid

► $200,000: NCAA round of 32 appearance

► $200,000: NCAA round of 16 appearance

► $200,000: NCAA round of 8 appearance

► $400,000: No. 5 through No. 1 in final AP poll (No. 5)

Texas Tech’s Grant McCasland – $225,000

► $50,000: NCAA Tournament bid, excluding First Four

► $50,000: NCAA round of 32 appearance

► $50,000: NCAA round of 16 appearance

► $50,000: NCAA round of 8 appearance

► $25,000: No. 10 through No. 1 in final AP poll (No. 8)

The greatest Final Four ever? Maybe. Finish of March Madness better than its start, this year.
No. 1 seeds became story of the tournament. That, and the constant rallies by Florida and star Walter Clayton Jr.
Florida downed Texas Tech in one of this NCAA Tournament’s great games. Then, Houston raised the stakes by stunning Duke.

Cinderella got sleepy quickly in this men’s NCAA Tournament, but those who stayed late into the party put on quite a show.

This will be remembered as the March Madness when the No. 1 seeds struck back, when second-half comebacks became the winning formula, when no lead was safe, even in the hands of a blue blood, and when Florida star Walter Clayton Jr. made sure the Gator boys kept winning until no more opponents remained.

The greatest rendition of this tournament, it was not. I could go for a bit more bite from underdogs and a few more buzzer-beaters.

The greatest Final Four ever? Maybe. The tournament improved as it progressed. The semifinal games in San Antonio staged magnificent theater.

Here are my round-by-round grades.

First round: C-

The opening round spoiled us the past few years, with hardly imaginable upsets like Saint Peter’s shocking Kentucky, Princeton toppling Arizona and Fairleigh freakin’ Dickinson, a school most of us couldn’t place on a map, taming Zach Edey and Purdue.

Just last year, three No. 11 seeds won in the first round, plus two No. 12s, a No. 13 and No. 14 Oakland shocked Kentucky on the shooting stroke of a 24-year-old bench player.

So, yeah, the first-round bar had been set high. This year’s rendition couldn’t meet it. We settled for No. 11 Drake upsetting Missouri, plus a pair of No. 12 seeds — Colorado State and McNeese State — winning.

Second round: C

Most of the favorites kept winning, but not as easily. Florida supplied the first of its four comebacks needed to win a national championship by rallying past Connecticut.

Maryland’s Derick Queen banked home the buzzer-beater we craved, but it came at the expense of Colorado State reaching the Sweet 16.

Brigham Young beating Wisconsin proved good to the last drop.

John Calipari vs. Rick Pitino made for the perfect start to a second-round Saturday, even if Arkansas beating St. John’s felt only like a modest upset.

Sweet 16: B

Now, we’re cooking. This round endured its share of blowouts, like Alabama smashing BYU with a record-setting 3-point performance, but it offset those games with some of the tournament’s most memorable finishes.

Finally, the tournament served an overtime game after Texas Tech’s Darrion Williams drilled a 3-pointer to erase the last of Arkansas’ 16-point lead. The Red Raiders won in overtime. Houston coach Kelvin Sampson showed off his X’s and O’s with a beautiful inbounds play that resulted in the inbounds passer scoring the winning bucket against Purdue.

Cooper Flagg’s dynamite all-around performance against Arizona showed why the Duke freshman won the Wooden Award. He allowed the Blue Devils to survive Caleb Love’s 35 points. Michigan State-Mississippi delivered, too.

Elite Eight: C

No underdogs in the Elite Eight. Instead, a true assembly of the nation’s eight best teams. That should yield four elite games, right? Maybe, I expected too much. Houston trounced Tennessee. Duke pummeled Alabama. So much for four thrillers.

Florida-Texas Tech saved this round. It also gave us this tournament’s lasting moment: Clayton passed up a 5-footer that would have tied the game, dribbled to the top of the key and sank a 3-pointer to put the Gators ahead by a point with a minute to play. That wiped out the last of Texas Tech’s nine-point lead with less than three minutes remaining. Clayton spurred an absolute blur of buckets in the closing, and, with 34 points, he tipped his hand that he’d be named the tournament’s most outstanding player.

A good Auburn-Michigan State game propped up this round, too, complete with Johni Broome’s 3-pointer with an injured elbow.

Final Four: A+

The only other time four No. 1 seeds advanced to the Final Four, in 2008, the semifinals underwhelmed. Not this time.

Saturday served the best day of the tournament. Never mind that there were only two games. They brought together the best teams, the biggest stars, premier coaches, and they produced thrilling finishes.

Clayton and his cardiac Gators maintained their highwire act, engineering another rally, this time with Auburn falling victim. You thought that rally was good? That was nothing compared to what unfolded in the nightcap.

Houston cranked up the heat to melt Duke in the final 75 seconds to produce a stunning comeback. J’Wan Roberts, the Cougars’ sixth-year senior who’s a mediocre free-throw shooter, swished two strokes from the line to secure a one-point victory.

Duke’s win probability stood at more than 92% with less than a minute remaining, according to ESPN metrics. March Madness disrespects win probably rates, though, and Houston — like Florida — kept showing that second-half deficits were a path to victory.

National championship: B

It’s fitting the national championship ended with a Houston turnover. A beauty contest, this game was not, but it concluded with the best team from the nation’s best conference hoisting the trophy, following Florida’s 65-63 victory.

Florida used yet another second-half rally – of course, right? – to prevail.

The number of missed shots made this game an eyesore, at times, and this won’t rank as an all-time conclusion. But, the game stayed close, and the outcome hung in the balance until the buzzer sounded. That’s more than you can say for the past two championship games.

Overall March Madness grade: B

I could have gone for an extra upset or two or three early in the tournament, but I relished the Final Four, plus a few Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games. The tournament delivered in the end. It usually does.

Blake Toppmeyer is a columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer. Subscribe to read all of his columns.

Former MLB star Octavio Dotel is among dozens killed and more than 150 injured when a roof collapsed at a nightclub in the Dominican Republic.

The 51-year-old Dominican baseball pitcher died from injuries sustained in the roof collapse, which happened shortly before 1 a.m. Tuesday during a merengue concert at the nightclub, located in nation’s capital of Santo Domingo.

The tragedy also claimed the lives of former major league player Tony Blanco, 43, and Nelsy Cruz, the governor of the northern Monte Cristi province and sister of seven-time MLB All-Star Nelson Cruz. The collapse killed at least 79 people.

Nelsy Cruz called Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader after the collapse to tell him that she was trapped, the Associated Press and the Guardian reported, citing the country’s first lady, Raquel Arbaje.

‘Major League Baseball is deeply saddened by the passings of Octavio Dotel, Tony Blanco, Nelsy Cruz, and all the victims of last night’s tragedy in Santo Domingo,’ MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. ‘The connection between baseball and the Dominican Republic runs deep, and we are thinking of all the Dominican players and fans across the game today.’

Here’s what we know so far, including whether authorities have said anything about a possible cause.

How many people died in Dominican Republic roof collapse?

‘From the very beginning, we have activated all possible mechanisms to provide support to those affected,’ Jet Set said in a statement shared on Instagram. ‘The loss of life leaves us in a state of profound pain and dismay.’

What caused the roof collapse?

A cause is not yet known.

The club’s owner, Antonio Espaillat, took to Instagram to say that he and the club were cooperating with and helping authorities.

‘There are not enough words to express the pain this event has caused,’ he said. ‘What happened was devastating for all. We want you to know that we are with you, that we share your grief.’

In the minutes leading up to the collapse, video showed that people inside the club were pointing at the roof and that there was a fire at the same nightclub in 2023, ABC News reported.

Who was performing at the night club?

Dominican merengue singer Rubby Pérez performed at the club Monday night, Jet Set confirmed through Instagram posts. The singer’s manager, Enrique Paulino, told reporters at the scene that the tragedy happened nearly an hour after Pérez’s set began, according to the Associated Press.

It’s unclear whether the musician behind the song ‘Buscando Tus Besos’ was injured but Paulino confirmed the group’s saxophonist was killed, AP reported.

USA TODAY has reached out to Paulino and Espaillat for comment.

Who is Octavio Dotel?

Dotel, 51, was a native of Santo Domingo who played for 13 teams over his 15 seasons in the majors from 1999 to 2013. Originally signed by the New York Mets, Dotel was traded to the Houston Astros after making his MLB debut in 1999 and he spent five years in Houston – where he developed into one of the National League’s top setup men.

In 2003, he made history when he, Hall of Famer Billy Wagner and four other Astros pitchers combined to no-hit the New York Yankees.

Wagner was traded that offseason, and Dotel took over the closer’s role for the Astros in 2004. That June he was traded to Oakland in a blockbuster three-team deal that sent eventual postseason hero Carlos Beltran to Houston. Dotel finished the year with a career-high 36 saves.

Who is Tony Blanco?

Tony Blanco was a former Major League Baseball player who appeared in 56 games for the Washington Nationals in 2005. He also played in minor league baseball in the U.S. for eight years and later went on to play in Japan.

Blanco played with several teams during his eight seasons in Japan’s top Nippon Baseball League, including the Orix Buffaloes, the Chunichi Dragons, and the Yokohama Bay Stars. However he retired his baseball career after the 2016-17 season with the Estrellas Orientales in the Dominican Winter League.

The San Juan de la Maguana native was also the father of Tony Blanco Jr., who is a prospect with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Who is Nelsy Cruz?

Nelsy Cruz was the governor of Montecristi, a northwestern province in the Dominican Republic, and the sister of seven-time MLB All-Star Nelson Cruz.

Nelson Cruz confirmed his sister’s death through a statement posted on his Instagram story:

‘With profound pain, the Cruz Martínez family informs the passing of our beloved sister, mother, daughter, aunt and friend: Nelsy M. Cruz Martínez who in her life moved with dedication, commitment and love for her people and community.’

This story was updated to add new information

A scary moment occurred in Tuesday’s game between the Memphis Grizzlies and Charlotte Hornets as rookie Jaylen Wells was stretched off the court after a nasty fall.

Wells was about to cash in on a breakaway dunk with just over a minute left in the second quarter at the Spectrum Center when Hornets guard KJ Simpson undercut him as he was in the air. Wells hit the floor hard and didn’t immediately get up. His Memphis teammates rushed to check on him.

It quickly got silent in the arena as a stretcher made its way onto the court and the Grizzlies’ medical team and emergency service members attended to Wells.

Some Hornets players could be seen praying as Wells was attended to. Memphis players and coaches huddled in a circle and prayed, as well.

Wells was taken out of the arena on the stretcher and transported to a hospital. The play was reviewed and a flagrant two foul was called on Simpson, resulting in him being ejected from the game.

A second-round pick in the 2024 NBA draft out of Washington State, Wells has been one of the most productive first-year players in the league. He had played in every game this season, including Tuesday’s contest. He averages 10.5 points per game, fifth-best among rookies, along with 3.4 rebounds.

Jaylen Wells injury update

Wells’ father, Fred, told the Memphis Commercial Appeal, part of the USA TODAY Network, that Wells was alert and talking and even wanted to know the score of the game.

‘He has a swollen wrist,’ Fred Wells told The Commercial Appeal via text. ‘Face, jaw and back pain. Prob concussion. We are waiting for X-rays to get done!!’

Jaylen Wells’ agent, Aman Dhesi, told ESPN’s Shams Charania that Wells has a broken right wrist.

Wells posted a photo to his Instagram story with the caption ‘Go Grizz.’ His arm and hand were wrapped up and there appeared to be a cut on the side of his head near his eye.

This story has been updated with new information.

Luka Doncic was ejected during the fourth quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers’ 136-120 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night at Paycom Center after picking up his second technical foul.

The Lakers were leading 108-107 with 7:40 remaining when Doncic appeared to respond to a fan courtside.

Doncic picked up his first technical foul with 4:02 left in the third quarter.

‘It was a weird couple of minutes after that, starting with the ejection,’ Lakers star LeBron James told reporters. ‘I don’t know why the ref was taking it personal. He had already given Luka one (technical) and Luka knew that.

‘Luka was going back and forth at that time with a fan sitting courtside. … The ref took it upon himself to think that it was vs. him, whatever the case may be.’

Doncic now has 14 technical fouls on the season, putting him two away from receiving a one-game suspension.

Crew chief Tony Brothers told pool reporter Cliff Brunt of the Associated Press that Doncic received his first technical foul after the Lakers guard ‘directed profanity at a game official.’

For the second technical, Doncic ‘looked directly at an official and used vulgar language.’

Whether Doncic was speaking to the official or not, he has quite the history with Thunder fans, going back to last season’s Western Conference semifinals, when he led the Mavericks to a 4-2 series win against OKC.

‘I love it,’ Doncic said last year of playing in OKC. ‘When they chant, ‘Luka sucks,’ it gets me going.’  

OKC (65-14) will close out the regular season with a three-game road trip, starting Wednesday night at Phoenix.

Los Angeles (48-31) will visit the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday, marking Doncic’s first trip back to American Airlines Center since February’s shocking Lakers-Mavericks trade.

Luka Doncic stats for Lakers vs Thunder

Points: 23
FG shooting: 7-fot-15
3-point shooting: 3-for-7
FT shooting: 6-for-7
Assists: 5
Rebounds: 3
Blocks: 1
Turnovers: 3
Minutes: 31