More details come out on Bennett's deal

I often like to pump up other blogs that routinely contain great information, and Glenn Kasses' "All Cougs, All The Time" blog certainly qualifies. In the wake of WSU's announcement that basketball coach Tony Bennett has agreed to a long-term deal to stay in Pullman, Kasses has worked his sources to come up with information you won't find anywhere else.

Among the highlights, according to Kasses:

• Both Michigan and Iowa contacted Bennett's agent, with Michigan expressing what appeared to be high-level interest. No program requested official permission to talk with Bennett.
• The new annual guaranteed salary will likely start between $600,000 and $700,000 -- a substantial increase from the $375,000 he was slated to make next year.
• There will likely be an increase in the buyout amount, although it won't be in the $1 million range. (Darn.)
• Pay raises for all of Bennett's assistants, too. (One of Bennett's priorities if he was to stay.)

And as I speculated earlier, the “charm” of Pullman played no small part in Bennett’s decision to stay:

“Bottom line here is that Bennett really does enjoy life in Pullman and some of
the perks in terms of having his family and career here where he's at least
partially outside of the fishbowl, relatively speaking. I think that can't be
underestimated as a factor in this immediate decision, though we certainly don't
know if it will continue to be so should his name remain on those hot candidates
lists in years to come.”

Meanwhile, the people who actually get paid to have opinions react to the Bennett extension:

• “Bennett is the anti-Erickson,” by Jim Moore, Seattle P-I
• “Prodigy of the Palouse just does the right thing”, by Jerry Brewer, Seattle Times