Kennesaw State’s payouts to basketball coaches reach $338,000

When the last check is deposited, Kennesaw State will have paid its past two men’s basketball coaches a combined $338,000 to leave the program.

Lewis Preston agreed to leave in March 2014 by mutual consent, but the athletic association agreed to pay him $233,000 to buy out the remainder of his contract, according to copies of documents obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution through an Open Records Request.

Preston’s successor, Jimmy Lallathin, will receive $105,000 after resigning in April. Neither coach had buyout clauses in their contracts.

Athletic director Vaughn Williams replaced Lallathin with former Boston College coach Al Skinner a few days later.

Preston took a leave of absence from coaching Kennesaw State for what was described as personal and medical reasons in Jan. 2014. After being hired for the 2011-12 season, Preston inherited what would charitably be called a mess. The team’s practice time was limited because of penalties related to poor APR scored under previous coach Tony Ingle.

The team was 9-67 under Preston before Lallathin became the interim coach.

Preston, who declined to comment, was making $175,000 per year with his pay scheduled to increase to $195,000 for the 2014-15 season and to $215,000 in 2015-16.

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