Friday, April 16, 2010

CMU Spring Game Live Blog

Labels:

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Ernie Zeigler's Contract Details

I was able to get a look at Ernie Zeigler’s new contract with CMU and here are some of the notables when it comes to incentives:

-For winning the MAC West Division regular season title, Zeigler will get $5,000
-If he is named MAC Coach of the Year, he gets $7,500
-If CMU win the Mid-American Conference Tournament or wins the MAC regular season title, he gets $10,000. If they win both, he gets $15,000
-For appearing in the NCAA Tournament, Zeigler gets $10,000. Other Tournament achievements include making the second round ($15,000), Sweet 16 ($20,000), Elite Eight ($25,000), Final Four ($30,000), Championship game ($40,000), National Champions ($75,000). It is my understanding that he will just get one payment for a tournament run, not each individual total added together.
-If CMU finishes with a top 100 RPI or is in the NIT Tournament, Zeigler will get $7,500. If they do both, he still gets just the $7,500. For each NIT win he gets $3,000 and winning the tournament would give Zeigler an additional $10,000.
-Zeigler will get $5,000 if the average home attendance is 2,000 or more.
-For each home game that exceeds attendance of 2,800, Zeigler will get a $1,000 payment per-game.
-If CMU has an Annual Progress Rate (APR) over 925, Zeigler will get a payment of $5,000.
-If CMU finishes in the regular season in the AP or Coaches Top 25 Poll, Zeigler will receive $7,500. If CMU is in both, he still gets just the $7,500.
-Zeigler will receiver 20 percent of net profit from the CMU summer camps each year.
-In the media and public appearances, Zeigler gets $25,000 this next year, but the amount increases in each year of the contract. In the 2011-12 season, it will be $30,264. In the 2012-13 season, it will be $35,690, and in the 2013-14 season, it will be $41,272.
-CMU currently plays two guarantee games each year. Those are games that bring in revenue of at least $60,000 from the opponents (i.e. a Purdue or Michigan State). Should Zeigler negotiate a third guarantee game, $10,000 of that will go to men’s basketball recruiting budget and the remainder will be used specifically toward men’s basketball with the spending approved by Zeigler and CMU A.D. Dave Heeke.
-Should Zeigler be terminated this year, he will be paid $525,000. That drops to just over $368,000 the following season and down to over $193,000 the season after.
-Zeigler has a buyout of $500,000 if he is to leave before the start of the 2012 season. It drops to $250,000 if he leaves during the 2012 season or before the start of the 2013 season. It would then drop to $125,000 for the third year in the contract and would be just $75,000 if he leaves in the final year of his contract.

Those are the details of the contract. Certainly Zeigler can make a lot if the Chippewas have a big season and with Trey committing to the, it opens the door for a lot of possibilities.

Labels: , ,

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

CMU was retaining Zeigler no matter what

I've had some people comment to me about the the timeliness of the Trey Zeigler announcement and the release of Ernie's new contract with Central Michigan. Just to clear things up, CMU was going to extend Zeigler's contract no matter what Trey decided.

CMU had been in negotiations with Ernie for weeks before the deal was finalized on Tuesday. There was actually a deal on the table for Ernie weeks ago, but like all negotiations, some changes were made to satisfy both parties.

If anything, Zeigler's contract extension is what made Trey coming to CMU possible. Certainly had Ernie not gotten an extension, Trey wouldn't have felt comfortable coming to CMU. Trey wanted to know that his father would be at CMU throughout his college playing days in order for him to become a Chippewa.

Dave Heeke has shown in the past that he has extended the contracts of the coaches that put together a winning formula. The two divisional titles and the continual incline of the team's season win total was enough for him to offer an extension to Zeigler and no recruit was going to change that.

Labels: , ,

Zeigler is heading to CMU

I was able to confirm from very reliable sources at CMU that Mt. Pleasant senior guard Trey Zeigler will in fact commit to Central Michigan University on Wednesday.

Zeigler will join his father Ernie, who coaches the Chippewas.

This is a major landing for CMU men's basketball and could very well be a landmark day in program history if Zeigler is able to live up to the recruiting ranking he has been given. This signing could also open the doors for other higher profile recruits to join CMU and make the Chippewas a contender in the Mid-American Conference.

More info to come.

Labels: ,

Trey Zeigler to announce plans on Wednesday

Well, what a difference 24 hours can make.

After a decision to take a weekend trip to Arizona State pushed back Trey Zeigler's college announcement plans, now the highly anticipated answer to where Zeigler will play college basketball will be announced tomorrow, on ESPNU. The announcement is expected at 4:45 p.m.

Zeigler told Mt. Pleasant Athletic Director Jim Conway that he was making his decision this week in order to have an official announcment next week, but with the opportunity to do it on national television, things have changed.

Zeigler has left five schools on his list of options: Michigan State, Michigan, UCLA, Arizona State, and Central Michigan. My gut (strictly my gut here, nothing from any sources) tells me this move is an indicator that CMU is the choice. Getting out on signing day and saying you are going to Central Michigan would have a major impact for CMU, more than any of the other schools. It would be a big momentum push for the CMU program to have a 4-star recruit saying he is going to CMU and that he wants to build something special there. Not to mention, since it is signing day, he could have Ernie there with him to add to the impact. Coming out and saying you are going to Michigan State or UCLA just wouldn't have the same impact to move up your announcement a week, cancel a visit, and be on television to make the announcement.

*AGAIN, THAT IS JUST MY GUT, NOT SOMETHING THAT I HAVE HEARD FROM ANYONE*

Labels:

CMU Spring Practice Notes: Tuesday

It has been a little while since I posted some practice notes. I apologize, had a lot of things on my plate the last week, but I caught today's practice and had a few notes.

-Well for starters, CMU had a big injury today to guard Matt Kanitz. Looked to be an ankle injury, but he seemed upbeat about it following practice. He is probably done for the spring, but hopefully will be fine heading into the fall.
-D.J. Scott had a nice interception in scrimmage drills. Haven't heard much from him this spring, so good to see him making a nice play.
-Jahleel Addae had a fumble recovery for a score on a Tim Phillips fumble and also had a big hit over the middle on Cody Wilson. I think Addae could be a really good player this year and next.
-Lorenzo White Jr. and Bobby Seay have been doing some drill work at wide receiver. Not sure if this will carry into the fall, but with the injuries to WR's in the spring, it may just be precautionary.
-Taylor Bradley was back doing drills and looked good. He will be a nice addition this season at WR.
-The running backs as a whole had a pretty good day. Zurlon Tipton and Paris Cotton each had big runs and looked to be running aggressivley. Phillips also looked good, but had the big fumble for a score.
-Not sure how the Spring Game is going to look with the injury situation, but I plan on blogging from it and will be willing to take questions you might have on the team as it is going on, in case you can't make the game. I will post more on that later in the week.

That is about it for today. Feel free to leave a comment if you have a question.

Labels:

Monday, April 12, 2010

More Zeigler news

Well Ernie Zeigler has signed his new four-year deal but other administrators have yet to put their signatures on the contract. Expect that to happen soon and be announced this week.

In Trey Zeigler news, he has pushed back his announcement for his college choice to next week. He still insists five schools remain on his list. They are Michigan, MSU, CMU, UCLA, and Arizona State. A visit to ASU may be what pushed the decision back a week as sources tell me Trey is visitng the Sun Devils this weekend.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Zeigler News: Ernie and Trey

While the expected four-year deal between Central Michigan and men's basketball coached has reached a verbal agreement, no deal has been officially signed as Ernie has been in Louisville this week for an All-Star weekend for Trey, who was taking part in an exhibition contest with other top high school basketball stars around the nation. Zeigler is returning to Mt. Pleasant today and the deal should be made official early this week.

As for Trey and the big question of where he is going, he is expected to make his decision this week and the plans are for him to hold a press conference at Mt. Pleasant High School to make his announcement. Some speculation surfaced earlier this week that UCLA is out of the running, but I haven't had that confirmed by anyone in the know. It does seem that CMU could be picking up steam with the extension to his father, but only time will tell. Certainly if Trey decided to come and be a Chippewa, it would be the biggest recruit to sign with CMU since Dan Majerle.

Labels: , ,

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Zeigler, Heeke reach agreement

Central Michigan men's basketball coach Ernie Zeigler and Athletics Director Dave Heeke have reached a verbal agreement on a new 4-year contract sources close to the situation tell me.

The new deal will pay Zeigler just under $200,000 guaranteed this season and will begin immediately. The deal includes a $20,000 annual payment for media obligations and have a base salary over $175,000 in the first year of the deal with an undisclosed percentage raise after each season.

The new contract is also very incentive based which could pay Zeigler a lot more money if he finds himself winning Mid-American Conference titles and making NCAA Tournament appearances. Other incentives include attendance rates and graduation rates.

While the deal has yet to be signed, it is expected to be made official over the next few days.

Labels: , ,

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Spring Practice Observations for Thursday

I took Tuesday off to attend to other matters, so hopefully nobody is too upset. Thursday's practice had a lot of scrimmaging. Here are some notes from the day.

-The WR's are very banged up. Kito Poblah is in red with an ankle injury, but it's nothing serious. Taylor Bradley is in red with an injury, Jeremy Wilson has a broken bone in his lower leg, Jordan McConnell was in green, and Matt Torres was in green. The starting WR's were Cody Wilson, Cedric Fraser, and Jerry Harris.
-Early in the scrimmage there was a lot of false start penalties, but that got cleaned up as the practice went on.
-Tyler Reed was used at tight end on occasion to back up David Blackburn.
-The defense did well early on, making a lot of stops, while the offense looked better late.
-The first touchdown pass was 26 yards from Ryan Radcliff to Fraser. Carl Colny had some nice runs to set up the score.
-Adam Fenton had three sacks during the practice and looked solid at defense end. He was up against the second team offensive line a lot though. Would like to see what he can do against Rocky Weaver or Eric Fisher.
-Blackburn had some nice catches and has good hands. CMU looked to go to him in a lot of 10-20 yard passes.
-Armond Staten had a nice hit on Blackburn over the middle that popped off Blackburn's helmet.
-Cody Wilson caught a 22-yard pass from Derek Rifenbury that got down to the 3-yard line, but CMU was unable to punch it in and had to settle for a 24-yard field goal from Richie Hogan. Hogan also hit a 39-yarder on the day and seems to be the main kicker for the team.
-Lorenzo White Jr. broke up a touchdown pass from Rifenbury to Fraser on a jump ball in the end zone. It was a nice play by White.
-A.J. Westendorp had a 7-yard touchdown pass to Fraser on a play action roll out play. Westendorp made some nice throws and seems to be working toward the backup position behind Radcliff.
-Paris Cotton had some solid runs and looked hungry. He was taking on hits and seemed to be enjoying the offensive play calling.
-Jahleel Addae looks like he will be a heavy hitter at safety and will have to see the field some this fall.
-Some of the final scrimmages were situations where CMU was up big and looking to run out the clock. They did so both times with solid running from Cotton and Volny.
-The CMU defense won the two-minute drill with a fumble recovery by Dannie Bolden when Cody Wilson coughed it up.

That is all for today. More to come next week as the players get Easter Weekend off.

Labels: