Jim Hayford gets new contract with Eastern worth $117,000 a year

Eastern Washington University basketball coach Jim Hayford has a new five-year contract and a big raise, the school confirmed Friday.

After agreeing in principle on a new deal, Hayford and the Eagles made it official this week with a five-year contract worth $117,000 a year, not including incentives.

“Were looking for stability, and that’s a factor in teams being consistently good on a year-in, year-out basis,” Eastern athletic director Bill Chaves said Friday afternoon.

The deal scraps the remaining two years of Hayford’s old five-year contract, keeping him in Cheney at least through the 2018-19 season. That in turn would make him the longest-tenured men’s basketball coach since Eastern became a Division I school in 1983.

Hayford made $99,500 a year under his old contract. Hayford, Chaves and outgoing president Rodolfo Arevalo signed the agreement earlier this week.

“I am very grateful to Dr. Arevalo and Bill Chaves for this new contract,” Hayford said. “I am very thankful to have the opportunity to coach and direct the Eastern men’s basketball program and lead us into new seasons of success.”

The Eagles had no seniors in 2013-14, when they went 15-16 overall and 10-10 in the Big Sky Conference, barely missing the Big Sky postseason tournament.

The 15 victories equal the most for the Eagles in 10 years since EWU finished 17-13 in the 2003-04 season.

The Eagles return highly-regarded juniors-to-be Tyler Harvey and Venky Jois. Harvey was a first team All-Big Sky selection and earned second team honors on the National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District 6 team – EWU’s first player honored on that team since Rodney Stuckey in 2007.

Jois earned honorable mention accolades for the second straight year, as well as being the 2012-13 Freshman of the Year in the league.