Palmer Receives Contract Extension
6/11/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Palmer Receives Contract Extension
"I am very proud of Corky Palmer and the baseball program for their outstanding achievements this past season," Giannini said. "The program reached unprecedented heights for the sport of baseball in Southern Miss' history, with its win total, individual honors and accomplishments, team rankings, as well as winning the program's first outright conference regular-season and tournament championships and hosting the NCAA Regional Tournament.
"With each win, the excitement, enthusiasm and support by the Southern MIss and Hattiesburg communities grew, resulting in increased ticket sales and community involvement. All of this is the direct result of the leadership and direction by Coach Palmer. He is to be congratulated for these accomplishments, and this is just one of the ways in which we can reward him."
The extension and title change are subject to formal approval by the Board of Trustees of the Institutions of Higher Learning, and the contract represents the maximum length allowed by the Board. If the board approves, the new terms will take effect as of July 1, 2003.
The contract calls for Palmer's base salary to be at $80,000 plus a $5,000 television and radio supplement. There are incentives built in based on ticket sales and postseason tournament appearances. The total salary, with incentives, will be valued at over $100,000 a year for the four-year term. Palmer's contract will rank him as the third-highest paid baseball coach in Conference USA.
"I am appreciative for the support shown to me by Dr. (Shelby) Thames, Richard (Giannini) and the University in recognition of the successes that the program has enjoyed in recent years and especially this past year," Palmer said. "It was a great season, one that I will always remember, but I want to give the credit for the success to the players and my staff. They were all instrumental in helping the program get closer to the level we all want to reach and that's Omaha (College World Series)."
Southern Miss finished 47-16 overall and 23-7 in Conference USA, setting the school record for most wins in a season and the conference record for most conference wins in a season. The Golden Eagles won the Conference USA regular-season title, the tournament championship and hosted the NCAA Hattiesburg Regional Tournament this past weekend, finishing second. They also set the school record for the highest ranking (12) by Baseball America.
The Golden Eagles led the conference in hitting (.318), RBIs (455), runs (497), hits (712), walks (255), sacrifice flies (34), on-base percentage (.396), slugging percentage (.516), doubles (142), home runs (89), total bases (455), saves (19) and ERA (3.54).