NC State basketball shatters assistant coach salary records under Justin Gainey
RALEIGH, NC — When Boo Corrigan employed Justin Gainey as the subsequent NC State males’s basketball head coach, he did so with the information that he had by no means been a head coach previously. Therefore, the funding surrounding the rent has been elevated — exceeding $1 million for teaching contracts throughout the highest three assistants for the primary time in program historical past.
According to the contracts launched by NC State by way of a FOIA request courting again to April 13 that was totally launched on Friday, the Wolfpack spent a mixed $1.375 million on Alvin Brooks IIIMatthew Driscoll and Anthony Goins alone. Brooks and Goins have contracts that conclude on the finish of the 2028 season whereas Driscoll’s was a 12-month contract set to run out on April 8, 2026.
Not solely is Brooks the highest-paid assistant in NC State males’s basketball historical past, no assistant coach had ever been paid greater than $400,000. With Brooks making $500,000, Driscoll netting $450,000 and Goins bringing in $425,000, Gainey now has the three highest-paid assistants ever on his first employees.
The subsequent closest on the checklist? Former Wolfpack assistant and present Ferrum College head coach James Johnsonwho netted $400,000 throughout his time with the Pack.
The prime trio of assistants deliver with them almost 70 years of mixed teaching expertise as both assistant or head coaches on the school stage. Brooks III was most just lately an affiliate head coach at Georgia whereas Driscoll led North Florida for 16 seasons and was the affiliate head coach at Kansas State earlier than taking on because the interim head coach final season.
Gainey stated having expertise was a precedence — however successful and character have been additionally on the prime of his checklist.
“There were three things I was looking for,” Gainey said last week. “First, I was looking for guys of high character, guys that I could trust when they were out on the road representing NC State, right? Guys that I’d be comfortable with going into parents’ homes and then being able to communicate and be role models for these guys. I was looking for experience, guys that have done it before, that have been at this level, and that have been in those big games. They know what it feels like being in those big recruiting battles, and know what it feels like, and know what it feels like to get it donate.
“And then the very last thing was successful. I needed guys which were part of successful. It’s onerous to win. It’s actually, actually onerous. And lots of people assume that simply successful the sport occurs the day of the sport, or throughout that sport, however a lot goes into it beforehand. Guys which have gained, they know what it appears like, they know what it smells like, know what it appears like within the health club each single day. So these have been the three traits I used to be once I put your employees collectively, and I really feel actually good in regards to the group, and having the ability to pull these traits out.”
Here’s a take a look at all three contracts from the NC State public records launch:
The remaining assistant positions were filled by first-year Power Four assistants Riley Collins and Ogi Vasiljevic, who will net $85,000 and $110,000, respectively. Collins spent four years with Tennessee as a player development coach and graduate assistant while Vasiljevic was previously with South Alabama and Life University as an assistant at the lower level. Both contracts are on a 12-month basis.
Rounding out the group of new contracts was Director of Men’s Basketball Operations William Comar, who is set to be paid $125,000 for the 2026-27 season on an annual contract.
With that type of investment across the coaching staff, it’s clear Corrigan and Gainey wanted to valued experience from the start of their tenure. Now it’s time for Gainey and his elite staff to finish off the roster and hit the ground running for the 2026-27 season, setting the stage for a Gainey program expectations to construct for years to come back.
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