It was not a shock that ORU head basketball coach Paul Mills was being courted by other programs, but the fact that he actually accepted the job at Wichita State, did catch some people by surprise.
As soon as ORU was knocked out of the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Orlando, the rumors began to surface that Texas Tech and Wichita State were interested in talking with Mills about their coaching vacancies. Wichita State either jumped on the opportunity first or offered a better compensation package, and ultimately convinced Mills to move up I-35 to south Kansas.
When Mills was hired, it appeared he had a desire to stay put in one job for many years. Mills was an assistant coach at Baylor for 14 years, helping the Bears reach seven NCAA Tournaments, before replacing Scott Sutton at Oral Roberts before the 2017 season.
Plus, it was just two years ago that Mills signed a contract extension to stay at ORU through 2029.
“I am very excited that Coach Mills has made a long-term commitment to ORU,” Dr. William Wilson, the university president, said in March 2021. “His work ethic, integrity, passion, Christian witness and exceptional coaching ability will serve our university well in the years ahead. The ORU men’s basketball program is building something very special and the future is bright.”
It was Mills’ fourth season at ORU and the Golden Eagles had won the Summit League championship and the conference’s berth in the NCAA Tournament. As a No. 15 seed, Oral Roberts beat No. 2 Ohio State and No. 7 Florida before falling to No. 3 Arkansas 72-70 in the Sweet 16.
Since then, ORU has won another Summit League title and went to the NCAA Tournament again. Mills left ORU after six seasons in which the team compiled a 106-84 record.
According to The Wichita Eagle newspaper, Mills will be paid handsomely for his work at Wichita State. The newspaper obtained a copy of the “memorandum of understanding” between Mills and WSU, in an open records request, that outlines the main details and will act as a placeholder until the full contract is finalized. Both sides agreed to finalize the contract before July 1.
Mills and WSU agreed to a five-year contract that will pay the coach upwards of $8.5 million — without performance bonuses — over the life of the contract, which runs through the 2027-28 season.
Under guaranteed compensation, Mills’ base salary will pay him $1.25 million in his first year, $1.3 million in his second year, $1.35 million in his third year, $1.4 million in his fourth year and $1.5 million in his fifth year. That adds up to $6.8 million over five years in base pay, but that’s not all Mills will receive.
There are other compensation benchmarks and stipends, according to the MOU.
Assuming Mills fulfills his appearance obligations to earn his stipends and receives his retention bonus, he will earn $1.534 million his first year, $1.594 million his second year, $1.714 million his third year, $1.789 million his fourth year and $1.914 million his fifth year.
WSU also had to pay ORU an undisclosed amount to buy out his current contract.
Regardless of the fact that Mills is a devout Christian and fit in well with the ORU mission of developing the whole person; body, mind and spirit, that kind of money will cause just about anybody to forget about his commitment and jump ship.
As an ORU fan, it’s easy to be upset that Mills would leave, especially when he had several years left on his contract, and had the program going in the right direction. But, at the same time, it’s difficult to blame him for wanting to move on to another challenge especially one that pays so well.
Mills will be back in Tulsa next winter as Wichita State plays at the University of Tulsa as part of the American Athletic Conference schedule.
TULSA BEACON WEEKEND
My guests this week on the “Tulsa Beacon” radio show will include comedian and author Gordon Douglas, who has appeared on the Mike Huckabee Show, and Chris Kaiser, the director of Northern Oklahoma Fellowship of Christian Athletes. The show airs on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. CST on 970am KCFO.