College men’s basketball coach Tony Shaver received a $55,000 annual raise in May 2008 as part of a contract extension signed after he took the Tribe to the finals of the 2008 CAA tournament, according to information provided by the College’s athletic department.
The raise increased his annual salary to $200,000, and was paid for solely by private donations, contrary to information published in the Virginia Gazette over the weekend.
Shaver received the new contract before College President Taylor Reveley implemented a hiring freeze in October 2008.
“It was prior to any salary freezes here [at the College],” Athletic Director Terry Driscoll said. “It was all with private funds. These were annual donations.”
According to Driscoll, the move was made after a review of Shaver’s performance in a variety of areas.
“For all of our coaches, we have an evaluation where they are evaluated on the competitive aspects of their programs, on their administrative strengths and [on] their academic achievements,” Driscoll said. “That’s all sort of rolled together for an overall evaluation. We don’t do it on just wins and losses.”
Driscoll also confirmed that the increase was partially in response to interest in Shaver from other programs.
Shaver took the College to a 15-15 record in 2006-2007, before going 17-16 with a CAA championship game appearance a year later.
“That was a consideration,” Driscoll said, before declining to identify the interested programs citing, internal personnel issues.
Schools typically offer coaches raises as an incentive to remain at a program instead of taking a coaching job elsewhere.
Shaver initially signed a four-year, $120,000 contract in May of 2003, agreeing to come to the College from Hampden-Sydney University.
That salary was up to $145,000 in October of 2007, before Shaver accepted the extension six months later.
The original deal included ‘amenities’ that were not included in the dollar figure such as golfing privileges and the use of a car.
When reached for comment, Shaver said that he was happy to remain at the College.
“As a coach and as a person, I’ve really been happy with the support for our basketball program here,” Shaver said. “We think there are good things ahead for us.”