NMSU reaches financial settlement with former men's basketball head coach Paul Weir
LAS CRUCES - New Mexico State University announced on Monday afternoon that it has reached a financial settlement with former Aggie men's basketball head coach Paul Weir over his buyout.
NMSU announced that under a stipulated settlement agreement, both parties have agreed that Weir will pay NMSU $450,000 over the next seven years with the first payment due on May 1.
Weir left NMSU to take the University of New Mexico head coaching position in April 2017 after one season as the Aggies' head coach and nine as an assistant at NMSU. Weir's contract with NMSU was through the 2019-20 season, but his contract said a one-year extension through the 2020-21 season would be granted if Weir's Aggies won the Western Athletic Conference regular season championship or qualified for the NCAA Tournament during either of his first two seasons.
Weir led NMSU to the NCAA Tournament in his first season. NMSU has said in the past it understood Weir's buyout to be $500,000.
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“We’re delighted that we were able to reach an agreement with Coach Weir,” NMSU Chancellor Garrey Carruthers said in a statement. “We know him to be a fine coach, a fine gentleman and we congratulate him on a successful first season as head basketball coach for UNM.”
Weir led the Aggies to a program-record 28-win season, which was matched by the 2017-18 NMSU team, coached by Chris Jans. Weir finished with a 28-6 record and a WAC Tournament championship in 2016-17 at NMSU.
Weir led UNM to the Mountain West Tournament title game in his first season in Albuquerque, a 19-15 overall record and 12-6 in the Mountain West Conference. Weir made a base salary of $250,000 while at NMSU and he currently makes a annual salary and compensation package of $675,000, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
The money from Weir's buyout will be applied to the athletic department's $4.1 million debt to main campus.
Mark Rudi can be reached at 575-541-5455, mrudi@lcsun-news.com or on Twitter @mrudi19.