(WFRV) – After engineering a 14-win improvement in year two, Doug Gottlieb is drawing interest from other programs. But the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay head coach says he’s staying loyal to the Phoenix.
In a turnaround that included the program’s first Horizon League Tournament win in six years, Gottlieb showed he can win in his first stint as a college head coach, and other schools have noticed.
Phoenix return to Green Bay Horizon League Champions, start preparations for NCAA Tournament
“I’ve been called about one Mid-American Conference job and another job. I’m not interested,” Gottlieb told Local 5.
Green Bay finished the season 18-15 and hosted a conference tournament game, a dramatic turnaround from last season’s four-win campaign in Gottlieb’s first year.
“What’s the win in a little bit more money for me compared to what we’re building here and the fact that everyone supported me even though we struggled last year?” Gottlieb said.
Still, college basketball’s coaching carousel can move quickly. Just a few years ago, former Phoenix coach Sundance Wicks turned a three-win Green Bay team into an 18-win squad, signed an extension and left a month later to coach closer to home at the University of Wyoming. That deal ultimately brought a $705,000 buyout back to Green Bay thanks to the contract extension just weeks prior.
Because of that reality, a contract extension for Gottlieb could come sooner rather than later to protect the program if larger schools come calling.
“We always talk at the end of the year going through stuff and seeing where things are at with the market. Sometimes situations escalate based on different situations”, Green Bay Athletic Director Josh Moon told Local 5. “[Doug] & I will keep talking. We have a great relationship so we’re always walking through stuff with full transparency, both ways. That’s something we’ll always look at just like all the other coaches we have on contract because you’re always having that conversation to some degree.”
Gottlieb earned a base salary of $250,000 this season and is set to make $270,000 in year three of his contract.
“I’m not going to say how many times that is, but even if I got three times that, it probably wouldn’t do it for me,” Gottlieb said. “But I tell the players all the time — look guys, if we’re being real: if I get offered a high-major job, a Power Five job, those start at $2 million. I love Green Bay and I’m very loyal to Green Bay. But if you pick whatever school and they offer me $3 million, am I really not going to take it? You sort of have to. I don’t know — I’ve never been put in that situation before. And I do have money.”
The Green Bay men’s basketball program concluded its exit interviews with players on Thursday, just days after the season-ending loss to Northern Kentucky in the second round of the Horizon League Tournament.
Redshirt freshman Caden Wilkins confirmed to Local 5’s Kyle Malzhan on Thursday that he plans to leave the program and enter the transfer portal when it opens April 7.
That’s the only confirmed player who plans to exit the program, but expect more news to come in the following weeks when the NCAA Division I basketball transfer portal frenzy begins its 15-day window.
“Doug’s strength and why he was hired is because he’s a winner, he’s been successful at every stop in his career with whatever he’s done, really self-made, and he thrives in chaos and that’s what we’re in in college athletics,” Moon expressed. “That’s the key thing – he’s connected and he thrives in chaos and that’s what division one men’s basketball, especially, is.”
Saint Mary Catholic girls basketball falls in state semifinal
Despite a healthy turnaround in year two, Gottlieb knows there were a lot of missed opportunities for the Phoenix.
“I don’t view it as a successful season. I just don’t,” Gottlieb said. “My goal is to win the league. So that’s what motivates me. I’m not trying to be a pessimist or anything. I’m just being real. That’s not a successful season. We left so much meat on the bone. I felt like we could’ve done more. Success is when you achieve your potential, and our potential is to win the league.”
