(Editor's note: UW Athletics release)
LARAMIE, Wyo. - University of Wyoming Athletics Director Tom Burman has announced the finalization of a contract extension with head men’s basketball coach Jeff Linder through April of 2027.
“I’m excited to be able to continue building this program for this great fan base, this great university and this great state,” Linder said. “With these exceptional young men, incredible staff and all the special people involved we will continue to make history. Go Pokes!”
Terms of the five-year deal include annual guaranteed compensation (e.g., base salary, additional compensation, etc.) of over $700,000 beginning on July 1, 2022. Additional compensation is highly likely to be earned annually via incentives for academic and athletic performance goals.
Linder’s original contract included incentives for winning the Mountain West regular-season championship ($25,000), winning the conference tournament championship ($25,000), making the NCAA Tournament (one month base salary, roughly $20,417) and/or being named the MW coach of the year ($10,000).
“We are thrilled to be able to get a contract done that works for Coach Linder and UW,” Burman said. “He has done a great job transforming Cowboy basketball over the past two years. We believe Cowboy basketball is in great hands and we can’t wait for next November. We also want to congratulate the basketball staff who have done a great job in this process.”
Linder recently finished his second season as head coach of the Cowboys leading Wyoming to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014-15. He became the first coach since Everett Shelton to take a Cowboy team to the NCAA Tournament in his second season.
The Pokes were also ranked in the top-25 for the first time since the 2014-15 season and earned their highest ranking since the 1988 season, as Wyoming ranked No. 22 in the nation. Linder was named to the Werner Naismith Coach of the Year Late Season Watch List. He was one of 15 coaches named to the prestigious list and the only coach from the Mountain West Conference. The Pokes won 24 games during the regular season in a regular season since 1951-52.
