re: Bruce signs 5 year / 3.8+ extension

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AUBURN, Alabama — Bruce Pearl and Auburn have agreed to a new, five-year deal to keep him as coach through the 2023-24 season. The move was made Friday, less than one week after the Tigers' first appearance in the Final Four. He will be paid $3.8 million per year, with it escalating $125,000 per year after the 2019-20 season, according to a source. The university and Pearl also showed a strong connection to stay together, as they agreed to a hefty buyout structure that begins at $8 million the first year. It decreases to $6 million in Year 2 and then to $4 million in Year 3 and $2 million in Year 4, the source told Auburn Undercover. The contract is set to make Pearl the third-highest paid coach in the SEC, tying him with newly-hired Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams. He stands behind Kentucky's John Calipari ($9.2 million) and Tennessee's Rick Barnes, who received a pay raise to $4.7 million after flirting with a job offer from UCLA.

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