BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) – LSU basketball coach John Brady might have a new contract in the next few days, according to Brady and LSU athletic director Skip Bertman. Brady’s agent, Gary O’Hagan, is expected to fly to Baton Rouge this week for a meeting with Bertman and LSU chancellor Sean O’Keefe. Bertman said he has been negotiating via mail with O’Hagan. “We’re making arrangements for his representative to fly on in to see if we can close the deal,” Bertman said. “We’re trying to do it this week. Even if we have to go into the weekend, we’re going to try and get it done.” O’Hagan declined to comment. This past year Brady guided LSU to its first Final Four appearance in 20 years. He is seeking a raise and restructuring of his existing contract, which has two years remaining and pays him about $750,000 per year. That compensation puts him in the bottom fourth of SEC coaches. Brady said the negotiations have not been only about his salary.
“I’m not trying to be the highest-paid anybody,” he said. “I just want to have the respect we’ve earned by what we’ve accomplished as it relates to other programs in the league. “With where the program is, we’ve earned the respect to be placed in the top third or fourth of the league in whatever we attempt to do. The expectation level is there, so why not salary and facility level?” Brady has a 167-111 record in nine seasons with two Sweet 16 appearances, two SEC titles and three SEC West titles. Brady, Kentucky coach Tubby Smith and Florida coach Billy Donovan are the only SEC coaches with multiple conference titles during the past nine years. Brady’s assistant coaches are also likely to get raises with the new contract, and Brady is hoping for a continued commitment to upgrade facilities.