LSU hasn’t had a problem rewarding success in recent years.That fact poses a serious question about the future of LSU basketball.The University took one of the first steps in college football’s nuclear arms race by upping Nick Saban’s annual salary from $1.6 million to $2.3 million after the Tigers’ 2003 Bowl Championship Series National Championship.LSU also rewarded baseball coach Paul Mainieri with a $125,000 raise in potential compensation after LSU’s run to the 2008 College World Series and gave football coach Les Miles a bump up in total annual compensation from $2.8 million to $3.751 million — $1,000 more than the aforementioned Saban made last season at Alabama.”I want to win in every sport,” said LSU Athletic Director Joe Alleva. “I don’t care what sport it is … I want every sport to be a priority.”So at the end of a successful basketball season for both the Tigers’ men and women’s teams, will LSU up the ante again?Men’s basketball coach Trent Johnson likely hopes so.LSU’s surprising run to its 10th Southeastern Conference regular season championship earned Johnson $100,000 in incentives, and the Tigers’ selection to the NCAA tournament netted him another $100,000.All told, Johnson stands to make a maximum of $600,000 in incentives if he ever guides an LSU team to a national championship.”I’ve never been in an institution that had the facilities and the ability to recruit a high caliber of player and sustain [success] over a long period of time, like I have here,” Johnson said last Wednesday.Johnson’s total annual compensation sits at $1.2 million, which could be a lot less than new Alabama hire Anthony Grant. Media reports have said Grant could make as much as $2 million in his first season as the Crimson Tide’s coach, but the details of his contract have yet to be made public.Alleva said he and Johnson discussed the coach’s contract, but nothing has come of it yet.”He still has four years left on his contract,” Alleva said. “But we’ll talk about that as the summer goes along … There’s no urgency, there’s no rush.”Women’s coach Van Chancellor made his own surprising run to the NCAA tournament this season.It sounds odd to refer to an LSU tournament berth as a surprise, as the Lady Tigers are one of women’s college basketball’s prominent teams. But Chancellor lost all five starters from his 2008 Final Four squad and managed to achieve a 19-11 record and a trip to the tournament’s second round.”Our kids played hard — we did all we could humanly do,” Chancellor said.The team’s accomplishments earned Chancellor an extra $10,000 in addition to his $250,000 base salary.Chancellor told The Daily Reveille on Thursday he was “really pumped for another year,” and said he wished it were fall so the season could start.Alleva affirmed Chancellor’s commitment just as emphatically as his gold medal-winning employee.”He’s not retiring — not with this young group he has,” Alleva said. “The future is really bright for him and for that team.”A bonus of $150,000 awaits Chancellor should he guide LSU to its, and his, first national title.As Chancellor prepares to build on a tournament team, Johnson’s instant success has undoubtedly raised eyebrows around the world of college basketball. Johnson is adamant in his hope that “this next team won’t be judged by the team we just had,” but college athletics rarely work that way.SEC powerhouse Kentucky is reportedly offering Memphis coach John Calipari $35 million for an eight-year contract to restore the Wildcats to national prominence — just two years after luring Texas A&M coach Billy Gillispie with a base salary of $2.3 million.Kentucky isn’t the only national power, or set of Wildcats, looking for guidance. Arizona is looking for a coach to continue its nation-leading streak of NCAA tournament appearances — which sits at 25.Georgia is also looking to replace the recently-dispatched Dennis Felton. While the Bulldogs’ men’s basketball team isn’t usually regarded as prominent, Georgia was reported to have the nation’s most profitable athletic department by CFO Magazine in 2006, earning an annual profit of roughly $23.9 million.This all serves as proof LSU isn’t the only program prepared to pony up for progress.But Alleva didn’t seem too concerned, even with all this in mind, about the approaching future.”There will be a lot of jobs open,” Alleva said. “Coach Johnson is here, and I would like to see him end his career here. That’s what our goal is.”
 
 
 
—-Contact David Helman at [email protected]