Wichita State never publicly announced AD Darron Boatright’s contract extension
Wichita State has given athletic director Darron Boatright a two-year contract extension through June 30, 2024, The Eagle has learned through the Kansas Open Records Act.
Unlike the three-year contract extension signed in 2019 between Wichita State and Boatright, this contract extension, which was signed on Oct. 23, 2020 by then-interim president Richard Muma and Boatright, was never publicized by the university.
Boatright, who has been head of the athletic department since 2015, also received a $75,000 raise in base salary, which increased to $275,000, in the latest extension. Due to the strain the coronavirus pandemic has placed on the athletic department, the two sides agreed to defer his 2020-21 salary increase ($72,000) to a later date, no later than June 20, 2024.
The previous contract for Boatright, who declined comment, was set to expire this summer on June 30.
“Because that was 14 months ago, I can’t recall that there was any particular reason,” said WSU spokesperson Lainie Mazzullo-Hart in an email response asking for comment from Muma on why the contract extension wasn’t announced. “But looking back at what was going on at the university and in the world with the COVID-19 pandemic at that time, it was most likely overlooked or not seen as a priority.”
Boatright’s contract extension was signed during a frantic time at Wichita State, exactly two weeks after WSU acknowledged it had launched an independent investigation into abuse allegations made against men’s basketball coach Gregg Marshall, who would reach a $7.75 million settlement to resign on Nov. 17, 2020.
It also came less than a month after Muma was named the interim president, following the sudden departure of Jay Golden on Sept. 25, 2020. Muma, who was also the acting president when Boatright signed his first contract extension, was named to the position permanently on May 6, 2021.
Boatright’s name is attached to both of WSU’s highest-profile coaches: men’s basketball coach Isaac Brown, whom he hired permanently with a five-year contract in 2021, and baseball coach Eric Wedge, who was hired in 2019.
Under Boatright, WSU has transitioned from leaving the Missouri Valley Conference to joining the American Athletic Conference in 2017. He also oversaw the fundraising effort for the Eck Stadium renovations and the $13.8 million Student-Athlete Center that opened in 2020.
This story was originally published February 11, 2022 at 10:26 AM.
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