Many college basketball coaches are the highest-paid public employees in their state. A few are among the highest-paid people in sports, and some are even among the one-percent of American households, earning more than $5 million annually.
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However, most, including some of the biggest names in college basketball history, earn less than their former players. Here are a few rookies with larger salaries than the men who groomed them, all of whom are twice or three times their age.
Note: Coaches' salaries are from the 2015-16 season.
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Ben Simmons – Philadelphia 76ers
Rookie Salary: $5.9 million
Coach/College: Johnny Jones – LSU
Coach Salary: $1.5 million
It's little surprise that Ben Simmons is a richer man that Johnny Jones, because very few coaches have larger salaries than No. 1 overall picks, especially one with just three all-time tourney appearances and zero wins.
Simmons' two-year, $12.2 million rookie contract includes $5.9 million in 2016-17, or nearly 400 percent more than one of the lowest-paid coaches in the SEC. Only two coaches in America — Mike Krzyzewski ($7.3 millon) and John Calipari ($6.9 million) — have annual base salaries higher than $5.9 million.
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Jaylen Brown – Boston Celtics
Rookie Salary: $4.7 million
Coach/College: Cuonzo Martin – Cal
Coach Salary: $1.5 million
After one season at Cal, Jaylen Brown became a very rich man. The third overall pick in June's draft, then-19-year-old Brown signed a two-year, $9.7 million contract that pays him $4.7 million this season.
It comfortably surpasses Martin's salary from his second year as Golden Bears' head coach. Even Martin's new deal that he signed in June worth $1.64 million sits far behind that of his former player's.
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Kris Dunn – Minnesota Timberwolves
Rookie Salary: $3.9 million
Coach/College: Ed Cooley – Providence
Coach Salary: $1.7 million
In becoming the highest-drafted Providence player since 1973, All-American guard Kris Dunn blew Ed Cooley's compensation out of the Providence River.
In early July, he signed a two-year, $7.9 million deal that includes about $3.9 million in his first year, which more than doubles Cooley's contract in Dunn's final year. However, two weeks after the Friars' season ended with a second-round tourney loss to North Carolina, the now-sixth-year head coach signed a long-term contract extension that will bump his salary, though specific terms were not disclosed.
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Buddy Hield – New Orleans Pelicans
Rookie Salary: $3.5 million
Coach/College: Lon Kruger – Oklahoma
Coach Salary: $3.1 million
Despite not being a top-five pick, Buddy Hield was still given a meaty NBA contract. The record-setting former Oklahoma guard signed a two-year contract that pays him about $3.5 this season and $3.6 in 2017-18.
Even after Lon Kruger added $125,000 from Hield-aided tourney bonuses, the 64-year-old coach fell about $400,000 short of his former player.
