Colorado athletic director Mike Bohn decided to retain Ricardo Patton as men’s basketball coach and has praised his accomplishments, but Bohn is in no hurry to extend Patton’s contract.
Patton’s current three-year package worth about $700,000 annually has one season remaining. Bohn said late last week he has not entered into contract negotiations with Patton and has no timetable to do so.
Bohn said the absence of negotiations does not mean he has decided against extending Patton’s contract. Bohn is focusing on completing a “10 points of emphasis” plan for improving the program and hopes to announce the strategic plan by the end of the month.
“Ricardo is our basketball coach, and we’re pleased with our program,” Bohn said. “But the focus is on the program (and not on contract negotiations). Whether it’s scheduling, facility upgrade, student involvement, fan support or marketing, we’ll address all those things.”
Patton, 47, guided Colorado to a 20-10 record this season. He has a 177-140 (.558) record after 10-plus seasons, including 77-94 (.450) in Big 12 regular-season games. While his teams have reached the NCAA Tournament only twice, he has accounted for three of the four 20-win seasons in school history.
Patton and his assistants have said it would be difficult to recruit successfully this spring and summer without a contract extension, but it’s possible he might have to coach next year without having his contract addressed. Patton said he would have no comment.
“I think way too much is made of that,” Bohn said. “(Recruits) should look at Ricardo’s track record and how we obviously feel about his abilities. Our women’s volleyball coach and women’s soccer coach recruit on one-year contracts every year.”
