Board of Trustees approves new South Carolina basketball assistant coach contract

Over the past couple of weeks, news surfaced that South Carolina basketball was hiring a pair of new staff members. First, the Gamecocks hired Bob Donewald Jr. from Ole Miss as an assistant coach. Then, this week, GamecockCentral reported that USC was in the process of adding Charlotte Hornets executive David Duquette in “an executive capacity to advise on a variety of men’s basketball topics.” Former NFL executive Jake Rosenberg was also hired in a consulting capacity.

On Friday, the University of South Carolina’s Board of Trustees met and officially confirmed one of the hires. Donewald now has an official title and contract.

Donewald’s title will simply be “assistant men’s basketball coach.” His contract will be for $400,000 for two seasons. There would be opportunities for incentives for NCAA Tournament berths and/or Final Four appearances.

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If South Carolina were to terminate Donewald’s contract without cause before March 31, 2027, the school would pay the assistant coach 85% of the full value of his remaining contract. If fired after that date, Donewald would get the full $800,000 value of his deal. Those buyout numbers would be canceled if Donewald immediately got another job in basketball.

If Donewald were to break his contract before the upcoming season, he would owe USC $800,000. If he were to leave the Gamecocks before the end of March 2027, he would owe the school $300,000. His buyout number drops to $200,000 after that point.

Donewald’s coaching career spans over 30 years. He has experience as a head coach and as an assistant, and he has coached collegiately, in the NBA, in the NBA G League, and internationally, including a stint as the head coach for the Chinese National Team. He spent the last five years in the SEC at Texas and Ole Miss.

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