Details of Mike White’s contract extension confirmed, include escalator clause

ATHENS — Mike White has brought Georgia basketball up a level each of his first three seasons, and the contract extension he received last September is indicative of as much.

White’s three-year contract extension, announced by UGA in September, will pay him $3.9 million in salary and supplemental compensation this year and includes a $100,000 escalator clause each year through the end of his contract in 2031, according to records obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The $3.9 million is $210,000 more than White was scheduled to make in his original contract.

The base salary of the extended contract is that White will receive a base salary of $410,000 with his supplemental compensation increasing from $3.5 million in 2025-26 to $4 million the final year of the contract (2030-31).

White, in his fourth year coaching the Bulldogs after a seven-year stint as Florida’s head coach (2015-22) and four seasons at Louisiana Tech (2011-15), led Georgia to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 10 years last season.

The Bulldogs, who reached the final four of the NIT in White’s second season — recording the program’s first 20-win season in eight years — are 17-6 overall and 5-5 in SEC play.

Georgia is projected to make the NCAA Tournament in ESPN’s latest “bracketology” projections for what would be a second consecutive season. It would be the first time since 2000-02 the Bulldogs have appeared in consecutive NCAA tournaments.

Georgia held a Top 25 ranking in The Associated Press poll for six consecutive weeks earlier this season, its longest stretch of that kind since the 2002-03 season.

SEC Network analyst Dane Bradshaw gave kudos to White after Georgia scored an impressive win over John Calipari’s talented Arkansas team in January.

Bradshaw, a former Tennessee star, noted the win over the high-dollar Razorbacks was the sort of victory that “helps Mike White build an identity within the program — it’s a team that truly believes in their huddle that they are going to win these close games.”

Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks hired White and has voiced strong support for the progress the program has made throughout White’s tenure.

Should UGA and White part ways, the contract extension includes the following provisions:

If White were to terminate the agreement to take another job, or for other reasons, he would owe UGA a lump sum within 90 days, based on the following timetable:

• $10 million if separation occurs before the end of the 2025-26 season
• $8 million after this season or before the end of the 2026-27 season
• $6.5 million after the 2026-27 season and before the end of the 2027-28 season
• $5 million after the 2027-28 season and before the end of the 2028-29 season
• $3.5 million after the 2028-29 season and before the end of the 2030-31 season
• If Georgia were to fire White without cause before the end of the 2026-27 season, he would be owed 75% of what remains on his base and supplemental compensation through the end of the contract.

If White were to be fired without cause after the 2026-27 season but before the end of the 2029-30 season, the buyout would decrease to 40% of the unpaid amount of his base and supplemental compensation through the end of the contract.

The buyout percentage increases to 75% of the unpaid amount of base and supplemental compensation through the end of the contract.

Georgia is coming off an 83-71 road win over LSU on Saturday and plays host to No. 14-ranked Florida at 7 p.m. Wednesday.