Here are details of new Western Michigan basketball coach's contract

New Western Michigan head men's basketball Kahil Fennell will earn at least $400,000 a year in base salary, with his pay rising to $500,000 for the final season of the contract he signed earlier this month. Fennell signed a five-year deal that calls for a $25,000 raise each year through the duration of the contract, according to terms of the contract obtained by The News through an open-records request. Fennell, 43, was hired away from the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley late last month, replacing DJ Stephens, who was fired after four losing seasons.

Fennell's contract is in line with Stephens' contract, which was paying him $420,000 a year. Western Michigan is paying Stephens a $420,000 buyout. Fennell's deal puts him second in the state among the four known contracts of mid-major head men's basketball coaches, behind new Eastern Michigan head coach Billy Donlon ($450,000), and ahead of Oakland's Greg Kampe ($400,000) and Central Michigan's Andy Bronkema ($360,000).

Mark Montgomery's contract is unknown, as Detroit Mercy is a private school and doesn't have to adhere to state open-records regulations. How much will Kahil Fennell make at Western Michigan? As part of his contract, Fennell also will receive a $35,000 signing bonus as well as four weeks of temporary housing paid by the university while he gets settled into the Kalamazoo area with wife Sarah and two children.

Fennell's deal includes a lengthy but standard bonus structure that, among the most notable line items, would automatically add a year to his contract for every 20-win season. He also would receive $25,000 for winning a Mid-American Conference regular-season championship and $25,000 for winning a MAC tournament championship. There's a $15,000 bonus for a top-four seed in the MAC tournament, and a $15,000 bonus for an NCAA Tournament at-large selection.