New Eastern Michigan basketball coach Stan Heath to earn at least $375K a year

New Eastern Michigan head men's basketball coach Stan Heath will earn at least $375,000 a year under a five-year contract he signed earlier this month.

Heath's annual salary will be $325,000, plus he will receiving another $35,000 for his TV and radio obligations plus a $20,000 annual retention bonus under terms of the deal obtained by The News through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The package is comparable to that of his predecessor Rob Murphy, who drew a $315,000 salary plus $35,000 for TV and radio appearances.

Murphy wasn't retained by Eastern Michigan after 10 seasons — and became the president and general manager of the Detroit Pistons' new G League team, the Motor City Cruise — leading to the hiring of Heath, an EMU alum and former head coach at Kent State, Arkansas and South Florida.

Heath also receives a $500-a-month car allowance, but the rest of his contract, including bonus structure, hasn't yet been made publicly available. The News was provided an MOU (memorandum of understanding).

The deal is middle of the pack among the state's mid-majors, worth less than Oakland's Greg Kampe (approximately $400,000) and more than Western Michigan's Clayton Bates ($220,000). Detroit Mercy's Mike Davis' contract isn't publicly available because Detroit Mercy is a private institution, thus making it exempt from having to follow FOIA laws. Central Michigan officials said they will pay new head coach Tony Barbee similarly to former coach Keno Davis, who made more than $400,000 a year before he was fired this month. Barbee's contract hasn't yet been released.

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Heath, 56, who began his coaching career as an assistant at Michigan State during the late-1990s, early 2000s heyday, was hired after four seasons as head coach of the NBA's G League's Lakeland Magic.

He takes over a program that hasn't had a winning season since 2018, and hasn't made the NCAA Tournament since 1998 — the longest men's Division I drought in Michigan. Eastern Michigan was 6-12 this past season, which was interrupted by a three-plus-week pause for a COVID-19 shutdown.

Heath continues to work on putting his coaching staff together, as well as his roster, which lost forward Ty Groce to the transfer portal and, eventually, Butler. Six players from this past season's team landed in the transfer portal, though one, starting point guard Bryce McBride, eventually withdrew his name.

tpaul@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @tonypaul1984