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Eastern Washington University Basketball

Eastern Washington starts new basketball head coach Shantay Legans at $130,000 annual salary

New Eastern Washington head men’s basketball coach Shantay Legans with daughter Zola Lee. (Kathy Plonka / The Spokesman-Review)
By Jim Allen jima@spokesman.com

New Eastern Washington basketball coach Shantay Legans will earn a base salary of $130,000 in his first season, according to documents obtained this week by The Spokesman-Review.

Legans, a longtime assistant who was named on March 29 to replace Jim Hayford, also will receive $5,000 annual raises throughout the five-year term of his contract.

The 35-year-old Legans has the potential to earn more by meeting certain competitive and academic standards. He’s also eligible for compensation through media appearances and the Eagles’ annual basketball camp.

Incentives include $2,500 for winning at least 20 games during the season; $3,000 each for winning the Big Sky Conference regular-season and tournament titles; $1,000 for each win in the Big Sky Tournament and $5,000 for each win in the NCAA Tournament.

Legans also would receive $5,000 for a cumulative grade-point average (as of the end of each spring quarter) and a multiyear Academic Progress Report score of at least 950.

The contract is similar to the one EWU approved in 2015 for Hayford, now the coach at Seattle University. That deal, also for a five-year term, included a $155,000 base salary with $10,000 annual raises.

Hayford took over the Eastern program in 2011 with a starting base salary of $99,500 annually.

Legans’ contract places him in the lower range of Big Sky coaches but not by much:

  • Montana coach Travis DeCuire recently earned a base of $155,000 in the first season of a three-year contract;
  • Montana State’s Brian Fish signed a similar three-year deal last year and earns a base of $158,000;
  • Brian Katz of Sacramento State is entering the third year of a five-year contract with a base of $155,000.

At the high end of the conference, Weber State’s Randy Rahe is one year into an eight-year contract that includes a base salary of $342,594. Rahe has won five Big Sky regular-season titles at the conference’s flagship program.

Defending regular-season and tournament champ North Dakota paid coach Brian Jones only $109,000 last season. Jones is currently operating on a two-month contract while he and school negotiate a new pact.

Legans’ contract was also signed by athletic director Bill Chaves and university president Mary Cullinan.