Top 25 BB coaches donate to… more hoops.
Like NCAA football coaches, the head coaches for high-profile men’s basketball teams earn a lot of cash for their services — in addition to the perks they gain through local endorsements and summer camps. This can produce so much cash, in fact, that it would seem like a challenge for most regular people to spend it.
Therefore, we searched the media guides (or the closest approximations) for the AP Top 25 teams to see if any charities are identified in the coaches’ biographies.
Here’s what we found:
1. North Carolina, Roy Williams: In addition to other fundraising, “The Williams family has contributed
$200,000 to the Carolina Covenant, an initiative at UNC that allows low-income students to attend the University debt free.”
2. Memphis, John Calipari: Charities include $100,000 donation in 2004 to support athletic scholarships scholarships; $40,000 check to the University; honored by “Friends of the Ned McWherter Library.”
3. UCLA, Ben Howland: None mentioned.
4. Kansas, Bill Self: Created the Assists Youth foundation “to help provide young people access to better lives.”
5. Tennessee, Bruce Pearl: In February 2007, contributed $100,000 to endow athletic scholarships in the name of player Dane Bradshaw.
6. Wisconsin, Bo Ryan: None mentioned.
7. Texas, Rick Barnes: None mentioned.
8. Georgetown, John Thompson III: In 2007, established the John Thompson III Foundation “to foster community-based charities that serve at-risk children and families.”
9. Duke, Mike Krzyzewski: Charitable activities and contributions include serving as “current chairman of the Duke Children’s Miracle Network Telethon” and creating (with his wife) the “Krzyzewski Family Scholarship Endowment for Duke students from the Carolinas.”
10 Stanford, Trent Johnson: None mentioned.
11. Butler, Brad Stevens: None mentioned.
12. Xavier, Sean Miller: None mentioned.
13. Louisville, Rick Pitino: Organized the The Daniel Pitino Foundation in 1994 with his wife “to memorialize and honor their infant son Daniel, who died in 1987 at the age of six months.” The website for the Foundation, which is part of RickPitino.com, reports that “Since may of 1994 the foundation has raised $5,392,281.00.”
14. Drake, Keno Davis: None mentioned.
15. Notre Dame, Mike Brey: Charitable activities include “Since 2002, the Brey and his wife Tish have raised more than $1 million for the South Bend/Michiana community’s fight against cancer.”
16. Connecticut, Jim Calhoun: None mentioned.
17. Pittsburgh, Jamie Dixon: Various fundraising appearances for organizations including the American Diabetes Association and BoyScouts of America.
18. Michigan State, Tom Izzo: Bio reports that “Among his many efforts, he is very active with Coaches Vs. Cancer, Sparrow Hospital and the Catholic Social Services/St. Vincent Home for Children in Lansing.”
19. Vanderbilt, Kevin Stallings: None mentioned.
20. Purdue, Matt Painter: None mentioned.
21. Washington State, Tony Bennett: None mentioned.
22. Clemson, Oliver Purnell: None mentioned.
23. Davidson, Bob McKillop: None mentioned.
24. Gonzaga, Mark Few: None mentioned.
25. Marquette, Tom Crean: Has supported various charities including Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, National Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, and Catholic Charities.
Granted, there’s something to be said for making donations anonymously (e.g., we know that some of the coaches contribute to charities even if their biographies don’t mention it).
As high-profile coaches, though, there’s also something to be said for showing leadership for good (and important) public needs.
We figure that if the media guides — as almost all of them do — include family information about children and/or spouses, then they might as well include word of charitable activity….
We figure that it’d also be a good thing to see the coaches “compete” with each other to see who can be the most charitable — and including more information in the media guides would be a good start.
Tags: ap, basketball, charity, coaches, March Madness, Media Guides, NCAA, Salaries, top 25
