Oklahoma regents set to vote on Kruger’s contract

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The University of Oklahoma's Board of Regents is expected to vote this week on the contract terms of new Sooners basketball coach Lon Kruger.

Kruger’s compensation is listed among the items up for consideration at the regents meeting Thursday in Norman.

The university has withheld details of the deal for Kruger, who reportedly doubled his salary to about $2.2 million annually when he was hired away from UNLV by Oklahoma on April 1.

The agenda lists proposed salaries of $175,000 per year for newly hired assistants Lew Hill, Steve Henson and Chris Crutchfield but the school is not disclosing Kruger’s salary before the meeting.

The university rejected an open records request for details of Kruger’s contract, saying that he is “not yet a formal employee” though he has been overseeing practices, recruiting players and drumming up support among students and other fans.

Kruger is the only person listed among new appointees to the university _ for both athletics and academics _ that doesn’t have his proposed salary disclosed in the agenda. The university’s open records said Kruger’s deal is considered a job application and also falls under a protection for attorney-client privilege under the Oklahoma Open Records Act.

Regents will also vote on a contract for new wrestling coach Mark Cody, described in the agenda as a five-year deal worth $140,000 annually with performance bonuses including $15,000 if the Sooners win the national championship, and a one-year, $100,000 contract with new women’s basketball assistant Pam DeCosta.

The proposed contracts for Hill, Henson, Crutchfield and DeCosta would all run through June 30, 2012.

Kruger’s director of basketball operations, Mike Shepherd, is set to make $100,000.

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