Ganot gets his extension

Close one!

With the start of full practices for the 2016-17 season less than 48 hours away, UH coach Eran Ganot had his two-year contract extension finalized and announced by athletic director David Matlin.

That’s not to say the whole operation would’ve come to a screeching halt had UH not gotten it done in time. But it’s one less thing — a big thing — Ganot (and the rest of the UH coaching staff) has to worry about with a brand-new roster to mold over the coming weeks.

“It feels great, obviously,” Ganot said Wednesday. “Now we can shift gears, focus on where our minds should be at right now, which is getting us ready for first practice. We just had a great fall, guys have a couple days off, and now we’re locked and loaded to embark on a big six weeks here.”

The extension is said to come with a slight pay bump from the base amounts ($225,000, $232,000, $240,000) Ganot was to receive during his original three-year contract. But a source indicated it will not approach the amount Gib Arnold received (base of $344,000 annually) upon getting a reworked contract after his first-year success (19-13 in 2010-11).

Besides the gaudy benchmarks UH achieved last year, Matlin said the Ganot extension was granted in part due to the hurdles UH must still overcome with a largely rebuild roster (10 newcomers), the postseason ban (pending the appeal) and a two-scholarship penalty for two years.

“How much does the postseason ban, scholarships, recruiting, and four guys leaving (early) hurt you?” Matlin asked rhetorically. “That’s significant.”

Matlin said there are a couple of tweaked provisions in the contract, but nothing major. An increased performance bonus was added (from $25,000 to an unknown amount) for a regular-season conference championship during a year in which the team is banned from the postseason; and a bonus provision was added for a first-round NCAA Tournament victory. Previously, Ganot had to reach the Sweet 16 for NCAA Tournament progression bonuses to take effect (although there was already a $15,000 bonus for making the NCAAs as either a conference tournament champion or at-large selection).

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Similar to last year, there is no practice-opening preseason hype event in the works — ala the Twilight Ohana of the past — but there will be a Green & White scrimmage. That is tentatively set for Oct. 22, a Saturday.

It sounds like there’s another event in the works, though. UH is working on a tip-off function of sorts to be held at the Stan Sheriff a couple days before the G&W scrimmage. It could be a banquet-style fundraiser event similar to the annual postseason affairs … just a preseason version.

Keep you posted when I know more.