Washington looking to pay next head coach up to $3 million per year

The season has ended for the Nevada Wolf Pack after their loss to Iowa State in the NCAA Tournament, and now head coach Eric Musselman could be in high demand.

There are many reports linking him to the openings at Washington and Cal. On the Huskies side they are looking to open up the checkbook to replace Lorenzo Romar who the school let go after a 9-22 year.

The Huskies were paying Romar $1.7 million but now could pay between $2 and $3 million for its next head coach, according to the Seattle Times.

Washington is not known to be a historically great basketball school, but Pac-12 Networks Kevin O’Neill says that the Huskies job is better than the Cal opening and LSU — Musselman was an assistant for the Tigers during the 2014-15 season.

Washington athletic director Jen Cohen gives the impression that this may not be a quick hire.

“I’m going to collect a lot of information from people that care about this program — former athletes and others — get information from them on what they’re looking for, and then I’m going to go out and get the best coach for Washington that’s the right fit,” she said. “There will not be a big search committee.”

There is likely to be competition for both the Cal and Washington jobs as former UCLA and St. John’s head coach Steve Lavin is interested in either position. Boise State’s Leon Rice has been in connection with the Washington job.

Back to the money.

Nevada is paying Musselman $400,000 annually so get a bump of possible five-fold would be hard to turn down, as would testing one’s coaching skills at a higher level in the Pac-12.