Kansas University has refused to disclose its employment contracts of top officials in the KU athletic department.
The Journal-World made a formal request for the documents late last month, in response to increasing discussion among KU faculty and staff, as well as officials at other universities, about the full extent of compensation to Lew Perkins, who has been KU athletic director since July.
The university earlier disclosed Perkins received an annual base salary of $400,000 and fringe benefits including two automobiles, family memberships to two country clubs and two season tickets to men’s basketball games.
It also said “contingent supplemental compensation is potentially available.”
That supplemental income has been said to boost Perkins’ annual compensation to about $1 million.
According to comments attributed to individuals associated with the athletic department, Perkins will receive deferred annual compensation ranging from $400,000 to $600,000 a year during the life of his five-year contract.
Faculty members and others from the university community are saying the question must be put to rest, as current estimates of Perkins’ compensation are causing concern among their associates.
“We should know if he is indeed making this much money or whether these reports are false or overstated,” one professor told the Journal-World on condition of anonymity.
In a response to the newspaper’s request under the Kansas Open Records Act for employment contracts as a means to determine the total compensation, a university official wrote such information was not required to be made public.
In an interview, Chancellor Robert Hemenway also declined to disclose the figure or discuss the matter.
“I don’t comment on any individual KU employee’s salary,” Hemenway said last week.
However, base salary information for virtually all KU faculty, staff and employees is available through annual state budget documents. And the Journal-World has been given access to contracts for athletic directors at other universities in the Big 12 Conference.
For example, a contract and amendments to the contract the University of Missouri has with athletic director Michael Alden indicates that in addition to his base salary, the university makes annual payments ranging from $130,000 to $170,000 to a fund, annual supplemental payments of $50,000 and bonuses based on success of Missouri athletic teams in tournaments or bowl games.
Hemenway said such openness never had been practiced with KU athletics.
“We’ve never released contracts for other ADs or coaches in the past, including Roy Williams, Terry Allen, Al Bohl,” Hemenway said.
Because the Journal-World believes salary information is a public record of significant interest to the public, the newspaper will continue to pursue the information, Managing Editor Richard Brack said.
Earl Richardson/Journal-World PhotoChicago ? Things looked as bleak as a slush-stained Chicago sidestreet for Kansas at halftime on Tuesday night.
The Jayhawks, who were blown out by 31 points last Thursday at Wake Forest, trailed DePaul by nine points, 42-33.
“We were at a vulnerable point of our season,” Kansas sophomore Nick Collison said. “If we played bad the second half, if we did not compete, it might be something that carried over for a long time.
“It was important to step up and show some fire.”
The Jayhawks did just that the final 20 minutes, hitting DePaul with the same fury as Monday’s Chicago blizzard, and rallied for a 75-69 victory before 10,134 fans at the United Center.
Earl Richardson/Journal-World PhotoLed by inside players Collison (career-high 23 points), Eric Chenowith (13 points, seven boards) and Drew Gooden, who had 15 points at small forward, the Jayhawks outscored the Blue Demons, 42-27, the final half.
KU’s muscle men took it inside, fouling out Bobby Simmons, who hit for 14 points the first half. KU also played a pesky zone defense to perfection, holding the Demons without a field goal for nine minutes.
“I am ecstatic with the effort we showed the second half,” KU coach Roy Williams said. “We talked about playing with our brain and heart tonight and I think we did that.”
The Jayhawks showed some courage, winning without the injured Kenny Gregory and Luke Axtell. Ironmen Kirk Hinrich (39 minutes), Gooden (36), Collison (36) and Jeff Boschee (36) plucked 10 steals while mostly playing an active point zone defense.
“It was big bouncing back and winning without Kenny and Luke,” Hinrich said after his 14-point, three-steal effort.
Earl Richardson/Journal-World Photo“A lot of people played a lot of minutes tonight. It feels good to get that bad taste out of our mouths. After what happened at Wake Forest, we really wanted a big-time win.”
DePaul (4-4) led by nine points at halftime thanks to forwards Simmons and Lance Williams who had 14 and eight points respectively.
KU cut it to 47-43 following a 10-5 run, which was sparked by Boschee who hit a three-pointer and Collison who hit a bucket and foul shot.
DePaul led 49-44 when Simmons picked up his fourth foul with 14:30 left. It was the turning point of the game.
The Jayhawks ran off 10 straight points with Simmons out. When he returned at 10:19, the Jayhawks led, 54-49. He fouled out at 9:19, Collison taking a charge on a Simmons move down the lane.
The Jayhawks continued their blitz, completing a 17-3 surge and busting open the ballgame.
“The plan was to definitely take it inside the second half. We knew their front line was in foul trouble,” Hinrich said. “We wanted to get him (Simmons) out of the game.”
“Simmons about shot us out of our zone,” KU coach Williams noted. “It was big for us when he got in foul trouble. Their other guys were not as comfortable shooting it in. We saw tonight what happens when you get after people defensively, no matter what defense you are in.”
The Jayhawks’ zone held DePaul to 9-of-29 shooting the final half. Simmons finished with 17 points.
Perhaps the biggest defensive play of the half was Hinrich’s steal of an inbounds pass and layup that gave KU a 50-49 lead.
“I saw the pass. Instinct had me go for it,” Hinrich said. “I’m just happy we came up with the ball.”
Of course Collison taking the charge from Simmons, with some help from Boschee who also defended on the play, helped big-time too.
“I saw him driving. He got a head of steam going. I was in position,” Collison said. “There wasn’t a lot of contact, but enough I guess.”
Meanwhile, the Jayhawks rolled on offense. Drew Gooden hit 11 of 12 free throws as KU hit 24 of 29. Collison hit nine of 14 shots overall and all five free throw tries.
“I can’t say enough about the guys going to the free throw line down the stretch and making them,” Williams said.
Even a rare Williams technical foul failed to inspire the Jayhawks in the first half.
The two teams played to a 7-7 tie at the first TV time out. Shortly after, KU coach Williams erupted when official Jim Burr ruled Gooden lost the ball out of bounds in front of the KU bench. Williams, who believed the ball caromed off DePaul’s Andre Brown, screamed at Burr.
Seconds later, Rashon Burno drilled a three-pointer. At that point, Williams ripped off his glasses, screamed at Burr and drew a T.
Simmons made one of two free throws to give DePaul an 11-7 lead.
Chenowith responded with two inside buckets to make it 11-11 at 13:22.
Led by Simmons, who scored five points and Brown, who had two, DePaul went on an 8-2 surge and led, 19-13, at 10:41.
| Kansas | 33 | 42 | 75 |
| DePaul | 42 | 27 | 69 |
It was 21-17 at 9:21 when Imari Sawyer and Brown scored three apiece in a 6-0 run that opened a 10-point lead.
KU did cut it to 33-27 on a Kirk Hinrich bank shot at 3:50. However, DePaul closed the half by outscoring KU, 9-6, and building 42-33 lead.
Gooden had a perplexing turnover right before half, losing a ball on a spin move in the lane, DePaul converting on the other end. A Hinrich bucket right before half meant the halftime deficit was a workable nine points.
The Jayhawks will next meet Tulsa at 8:05 p.m. Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.
Three-point goals: 1-4 (Boschee 1-2, Hinrich 0-2). Assists: 16 (Hinrich 5, Collison 4, Boschee 3, Gooden 2, Chenowith, Kinsey). Turnovers: 14 (Collison 4, Hinrich 3, Chenowith 2, Kinsey 2, Carey 2, Boschee 1). Blocked shots: 6 (Gooden 3, Chenowith 2, Hinrich). Steals: 10 (Collison 4, Hinrich 3, Gooden, Boschee, Carey). |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Three-point goals: 8-26 (Simmons 4-7, Burno 2-8, Sawyer 2-9, Cashin 0-1, Tulley 0-1). Assists: 16 (Sawyer 8, Burno 4, Simmons 4). Turnovers: 14 (Sawyer 5, Hunter 3, Williams 2, Simmons, Burno, Brown, Oden). Blocked shots: 3 (Hunter, Brown, Oden). Steals: 7 (Brown 3, Oden 2, Simmons, Burno). |
