San Diego State men’s basketball coach inks 5-year $10.7M deal, highest paid in CSU system
Head coach of San Diego State men’s basketball Brian Dutcher arrived on Montezuma Mesa 25 years ago and intends to stay for a few more.
Dutcher will remain on the bench for the Aztecs through the 2027–2028 season after agreeing to a contract extension.
The annual base remuneration is as follows, according the agreement signed by Dutcher and John David Wicker, director of athletics at San Diego State:
- 2023: $1.9 million
- 2024: $2.03 million
- 2025: $2.13 million
- 2026: $2.32 million
- 2027: $2.32 million
Dutcher will be paid the highest salary of any employee in the Cal State University system due to the yearly base compensation of his contract.
Mildred García, the chancellor of UCal State, was the highest paid person in the school system in 2023, earning $795,000, according to the Sacramento Bee. In contrast, the Bee reports that Adela de la Torre, the president of SDSU, received a total compensation package of $548,196 last year.
Dutcher, the 2019–20 USA Today National Coach of the Year, has been leading SDSU for the past seven seasons after succeeding Steve Fisher. Dutcher joined Fisher’s staff at San Diego State in 1999 as an assistant.
Dutcher has won 21 or more games in each of his first seven seasons and has accumulated 173 career wins with the Aztecs. Dutcher’s 75.9 winning percentage is the best in SDSU basketball history
San Diego State University announced the five-year extension in a news release issued Wednesday afternoon.
“I express my gratitude to President de la Torre and Athletics Director John David Wicker for providing me with the chance to guide and support the exceptional young men in our program at San Diego State,” stated Dutcher. “My friend Steve Fisher came to The Mesa 25 years ago, and since then, with the help of my assistant coaches, we have developed a program that competes on a national level every night. It is all anyone could wish for that I can coach at a school and in a city that I adore, as I got into coaching to make a difference in the lives of young people.
Following its most successful postseason in school history, Dutcher led SDSU to the 2023 NCAA Tournament National Championship game, where they were defeated by Connecticut 76-59.
With one regular season game left, SDSU will play Boise State at home on Friday. This season, SDSU is 22-8.
