The Oklahoma State Cowgirls have been to the NCAA Tournament three times in their four seasons under head coach Jacie Hoyt . That was enough reason to give her a contract extension, which the university announced on Monday .
The extended deal means Hoyt will be the women's basketball coach at Oklahoma State through the 2030-31 season. It gives her security and the athletic department peace of mind that she'll be in Stillwater for the next five seasons.
It also gives the athletic department some added insulation if programs start sniffing around to lure Hoyt away. Which is why the terms of the deal are interesting.
Oklahoma State head women's basketball coach Jacie Hoyt. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
Per The Oklahoman (subscription required) Hoyt's new deal will pay her $875,000 this season and provide raises of $22,500 per year for the life of the deal.
The interesting part is that Hoyt was already under contract through 2029-30. The extension is only for an additional season. Why do it now?
The easy answer is that Hoyt just had one of the best offseasons of any women's basketball coach in the transfer portal. She landed the No. 1 and No. 2 players in the portal, center Audi Crooks and guard Liv McGill. The entire transfer class is seen as the No. 1 class in college basketball.
That class raised the program's profile. It also raised Hoyt's when it comes to potential job openings. That's why the buyout is important, especially early in the new deal.
Per the Oklahoman , the buyout for this year is $1.5 million. It de-escalates for the life of the contract. But the hope is that the buyout deters programs from taking a shot at hiring Hoyt away. Additionally, the buyout drops if athletic director Chad Weiberg is no longer the AD.
OSU certainly doesn't want to lose Hoyt. Hired away from Kansas City to turn around a flagging program, she took the Cowgirls to the NCAA Tournament in her first season.
Hoyt has won 84 games in four seasons in Stillwater, including 10 over opponents ranked inside the top 25 in the AP Poll, along with three top four finishes in Big 12 play since 2022-23.
The Cowgirls reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time under Hoyt after beating Princeton in the first round. OSU lost to eventual national champion UCLA. OSU is coming off a season in which it set a program record in points per game with 81.1.
Now, Hoyt and the Cowgirls are looking for more, with her new contract in tow.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/oklahomastate as Oklahoma State Smart to Extend Cowgirls Coach Jacie Hoyt's Contract Now .
