Coach K got paid $12.5 million to miss the tournament in 2020-21

Yes, I am very aware Kentucky missed the NCAA Tournament in 2020-21, but at least it came at a discounted rate compared to the price Duke got.

According to a new Sportico story, Duke paid Coach K $12.5 million to be its head basketball coach for the 2020-21 season. The number was revealed in Duke’s latest round of federal tax filings and it has since become a popular topic on college basketball websites for its place in the record book.

At $12.5 mill, Kresweskiaski’s compensation was much higher than John Calipari’s $8.1 million and higher than any of his college coaching counterparts, higher than Bill Self’s $10.2 million and Nick Saban’s $9.8 million that year. In fact, Coach K’s total 2020-21 salary was the most ever paid to a college head coach.

More from Sportico:

Duke’s latest IRS filings show that Krzyzewski was paid a base compensation of $3.27 million in 2020-2021 and received an additional $2 million in bonuses and incentives. The bulk of his earnings come from a one-time payment of deferred compensation ($7.24 million).

According to figures reported to the Department of Education, Duke’s men’s basketball program earned $22.5 million during the pandemic-constrained 2020-21 season, meaning that more than half of the team’s proceeds for the year wound up in Krzyzewski’s bank account

Over half of the program’s earnings in a pandemic is a lot.

Also of note

Duke went 13-11 that 2020-21 season.