Tennessee’s courtship of Michael White to replace departed head basketball coach Cuonzo Martin ended abruptly on Monday, reportedly over buyout numbers that weren’t satisfactory to White. Apparently, the disagreement between the two parties didn’t stem from the buyout, according to Knoxville radio host Jimmy Hyams.
- JimmyHyams: Tue 03:26pm I’m told UT offered La. Tech’s Michael White a buyout of between $2.5-3 million, not the $1 million that has been reported.
- JimmyHyams: Tue 06:10pm UT AD Dave Hart indicated the story that Michael White said no to UT due to buyout issue was untrue. Hart said his buyout `template’ was …
- JimmyHyams: Tue 06:11pm …the one signed by Tyndall — $3 million buyout if fired or left UT prior to March 15, 2017; $1.75M if parted ways March 2017-18, $1.5M ..
It’s unclear at this point what caused the talks to break down between the two sides.