MU pays Parker Executive Search $80,000 for men’s basketball coaching search

Missouri will pay Parker Executive Search the sum of $80,000 plus expenses for its help in the quest to hire a new men’s basketball coach, according to the terms of a contract released Monday to The Star.

On Monday, first-year Tigers athletic director Jim Sterk signed the agreement — which received approval from the University of Missouri System Board of Curators last week — for assistance “identifying, recruiting, and assessing candidates for your consideration.”

Utilizing pricey search firms has become commonplace in such high-profile hires, because it provides a degree of discretion as well as a second opinion — and perhaps a degree of cover, if things don’t work out.

Parker Executive Search promises to provide original research and candidate identification, and ongoing assessment as well as arrangement and scheduling of interviews.

The search firm handles the logistics of setting up confidential meetings and also promises criminal, credit and motor vehicle background checks, conformation of a candidate’s degrees, and a review of NCAA sanctions and media reviews along with reference checks.

The contract stipulates Missouri must pay a $40,000 retainer up front and another $40,000 after the search is complete or 30 days after it begins.

The billable expenses — including fees for teleconference calls, secure site access, research and delivery services as well as travel and interview costs — are capped at 12 percent of the total fee or $9,600.

However, fees for advertising, background searches, committee interviews and travel costs and candidate travel expenses are not included in that 12-percent maximum allowance and will be invoiced separately, according to the contract.

If a candidate Parker Executive Search helps Mizzou identify, resigns or is fired within one year of his start date, a new search will be conducted at no fee (though out-of-pocket expenses still must be reimbursed).

Missouri paid Collegiate Sports Associates $75,500 for help in hiring Sterk last summer and $42,500 for help in identifying outgoing basketball coach Kim Anderson three years ago.

The Tigers paid College Sports Solutions $84,720 for help with a football search two years ago after Gary Pinkel retired and wound up on the hook for more than $200,000 to Korn Ferry for an athletic director search in early 2015.

This story was originally published March 13, 2017 at 10:21 PM with the headline "MU pays Parker Executive Search $80,000 for men’s basketball coaching search."