Redone deal could keep Williams at Maryland until 2013

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams got a new contract that could keep him at his alma mater for the next eight years.

The contract allows for up to four extra years if base academic and competitive benchmarks are met in each of the remaining four years of the current 10-year deal. The current contract runs through May 31, 2009, so the extension could lengthen the deal to May 31, 2013.

The contract also will enable Williams to collect bonuses if certain academic and competitive requirements are met.

"This new contract ensures that his compensation will be commensurate to that of the most highly achieving coaches in the nation for the foreseeable future," athletic director Debbie Yow said in a statement Monday."

Williams is guaranteed a salary of $1.6 million for 2005-06. If all academic and athletic incentives are met, he will earn $2.3 million this season.

Under Williams, the Terrapins won the 2002 national championship and the 2004 Atlantic Coast Conference title. With a 341-180 career record at Maryland, Williams is just eight wins shy of passing Lefty Driesell as the school career leader in victories.

"I am looking forward to achieving the high personal goals I have set for myself and the program, in both the academic and basketball areas," Williams said.