Kruger contract has postseason bonuses, big buyout

New Oklahoma men's basketball coach Lon Kruger will have 20 hours of private plane usage and bonuses of up to $175,000 under terms of his new contract.

Kruger's seven-year, $16.6 million deal was released Friday after an open records request by The Associated Press. It includes a bonus structure that will pay him $25,000 for reaching the NCAA tournament and up to $175,000 for leading the Sooners to the national championship.

In essence, Kruger will earn an additional $25,000 bonus for each NCAA tournament game Oklahoma wins. He'd get $50,000 for getting the team to the second round, $75,000 for the third round and so on.

The basic terms of the agreement were released in May, when university regents approved a $2 million salary package for Kruger that will increase by $100,000 each year. He gets a $250,000 base salary, $500,000 for promotional and fundraising activities, $950,000 for personal services and a $300,000 ''stay bonus'' each May.

Other details - such as the bonus structure and buyout provisions - couldn't be released until after Kruger signed the final deal.

The contract includes a buyout of $1.2 million per year remaining on the deal at the time Kruger is let go. That number increases to $2 million per year if university president David Boren and athletic director Joe Castiglione are no longer at Oklahoma and Kruger gets fired.

Kruger's bonuses are bigger than those of predecessor Jeff Capel, who could have received up to $100,000 for winning the national title, but he won't get the $20,000 bonuses Capel was entitled to receive for winning 20 games and for finishing in the Top 25.

Kruger's contract also includes two clauses in sections related to compliance with NCAA and university rules that require Kruger to respond ''accurately and fully within a reasonable time to any request or inquiry relating to the performance of his duties during his University employment.''

That wording was not included in the most recent contract for Capel, who was fired in March with the program under investigation by the NCAA.

Kruger also gets the use of two vehicles for himself and his wife, tickets to home and away basketball games for personal use, six tickets to Sooners football games, and travel accommodations for his wife at road games. Capel had similar provisions in his contract.