UM's Kim Barnes Arico in line for extension this summer; she made $800K in 2020-21

If past time frames hold consistent, Michigan women's basketball coach Kim Barnes Arico should be in line for a contract extension at some point this summer. It's good timing for negotiations, too, the Wolverines coming off their best showing ever in the NCAA Tournament, making the Sweet 16 for the first time.

Barnes Arico signed contract extensions in 2015 and 2018, the last deal bumping her annual pay significantly, past $700,000.

Barnes Arico also earned an additional $70,000 this year — $20,000 for making the NCAA Tournament, and $25,000 for each of Michigan's two NCAA Tournament victories. That means she cleared nearly $800,000.

The Wolverines (16-6) saw their season end Sunday, with a 78-75 overtime loss to Baylor — an exciting game that was followed an even-more-eventful trip home, during which their chartered plane encountered a bad storm over Indiana, lost pressure and deployed oxygen masks, and was forced to make an emergency landing. Michigan arrived home before 9 a.m. Monday.

Barnes Arico, 50, just completed her ninth season as Michigan head coach, and has taken the team to the postseason each year, including three straight NCAA bids and the 2017 WNIT championship.

She's 193-102 at Michigan, with four NCAA Tournament appearances in all. Michigan only made the NCAA Tournament five times before her arrival. This was the only season Michigan didn't win 20 games under Barnes Arico, and that's likely only because of a lengthy COVID-19 shutdown midseason.

Led by junior guards Naz Hillmon and Leigha Brown, Michigan finished 9-4 in a very good Big Ten, and beat Florida Gulf Coast and storied Tennessee to make the Sweet 16 for the first time. A 6 seed, the Wolverines came within a whisker of stunning No. 2-seed Baylor.

Barnes Arico's last contract extension nearly doubled her base salary, making her the highest-paid women's coach in the state, and in the upper echelon nationally and in the Big Ten.

Her current contract runs through the 2022-23 season.

Barnes Arico previously coached at St. John's, Adelphi, NJIT and Fairleigh Dickinson–Madison.

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tpaul@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @tonypaul1984