North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham will earn nearly $68,000 for the Tar Heels’ berth in the men’s NCAA Tournament. He also chaired the committee that put them in.
North Carolina was one of a few teams “on the bubble” heading into Sunday night’s selection show. The Tar Heels finished the year 22-13, but were 1-12 in “Quad 1” contests, their most difficult games. When the final conference title games had ended on Sunday, ESPN’s bracket expert had UNC on the outside looking in.
Instead, the Tar Heels were the last team selected for the 68-team field. They face fellow No. 11 seed San Diego State in the First Four on Tuesday.
It’s a win for the school, for the ACC and also for Cunningham. For having a team make the field, North Carolina’s AD will receive one twelfth of his annual base salary, which is $814,868, according to his contract. That $67,905 bonus is for “overload duties, work and responsibilities related to” the NCAA Tournament, the contract says. Cunningham made the same when the North Carolina women’s team received a No. 3 seed.
When Cunningham signed that deal, he was in the middle of a five-year term to serve on the NCAA’s Division I men’s basketball committee, which selects the field of 68. That process includes a stated policy of having the AD of any school (or commissioner) leave the room when his or her teams are being discussed, and to abstain from any voting.
In a televised interview Sunday night on CBS, Cunningham said he recused himself for all discussions involving the Tar Heels.
“Obviously, I’m going to defer that” to committee vice chair Keith Gill, Cunningham said. “But all the policies and procedures were followed and Keith can address exactly how North Carolina was discussed because I was not in the room for any of that.”
Gill, who is commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference, then said that he “managed all the conversation that we had about North Carolina,” and confirmed that UNC was the final team selected for the field. Had Memphis lost to UAB in the American title game on Sunday, UNC would not have made the bracket.
West Virginia governor Patrick Morrisey, who said Monday that he would consider legal action against the NCAA over WVU’s exclusion from the tournament, hinted at Cunningham’s conflict of interest. In a post on X, Morrisey wrote: “There’s clearly some home cookin’ going on in North Carolina.”
A representative for UNC didn’t respond to questions about the bonus or the potential conflict.
Members of the D-I men’s basketball committee are not compensated directly for their work, according to an NCAA spokesperson. They have transportation and lodging covered during meetings, and receive a $75 per diem while traveling on NCAA business for meals and other incidentals.
The 12-person committee is a mix of conference commissioners and athletic directors. The only others whose teams received at-large bids were Alabama AD Greg Byrne and West Coast Conference commissioner Stu Jackson.
Cunningham’s five-year deal, signed in 2022, pays him $814,868 per year with a hefty amount of additional compensation, including a $110,409 retention bonus every three months. In addition to the bonus for making the men’s basketball tournament, Cunningham is in line to make more if the men’s team makes a run. He’ll make $50,000 if they reach the Sweet 16, $75,000 if they make the Final Four, or $100,000 if they win a national title.
UNC head coach Hubert Davis also received a bonus for making the tournament. According to his contract, which started last July, he will receive $100,000 for playing in Tuesday’s game. The school also receives payment via the ACC through the tournament’s complex “units” payout system.
(This story has been updated with info via an NCAA spokesperson in the 11th paragraph.)