New Mexico State AD Mario Moccia signs five-year contract extension
Mario Moccia's time as athletic director marked by recent player, coach scandal.
Jason Groves
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LAS CRUCES ― As New Mexico State University's athletic department faces scrutiny following two off-court incidents involving the men's basketball program, Athletic Director Mario Moccia recieved a five-year contract extension in April.
Moccia's previous contract would have expired next summer. The new deal was signed by Moccia and former Chancellor Dan Arvizu on April 7, the same day the University announced that Arvizu was stepping down three months before his contract expired.
"It had been in the works for quite some time," NMSU spokesman Justin Bannister said regarding the timing of the contract. "They had been in negotiations for awhile. It had been underway for several months."
Moccia could not be reached for comment immediately.
Under the extended contract, Moccia's base salary would increase annual: $280,000 to $351,000 in 2023, $371,800 in 2024, $391,800 in 2025, $400,000 in 2026 and $425,000 in 2027. The new contract does not include the $25,000 retention bonus Moccia has received each January since signing his first extension in 2019.
Moccia was hired in 2015 to replace McKinley Boston and lead the NMSU athletic department. Moccia agreed to a five-year contract extension in 2019, would would expire June 30, 2024.
His second contract was similar to the first, but in that contract, a buyout was fully guaranteed if the school fired him without cause. The new contract is also fully guaranteed if he is fired without cause. If Moccia gets another job, he owes 10 percent of his remaining base salary.
Moccia's employment at the school is tied to buyout clauses of multiple coaches contracts at NM State, including head football coach Jerry Kill, new men's basketball coach Jason Hooten and women's head basketball coach Jody Adams.
Earlier this month, Arvizu announced he would step down three months before his contract expired. The university announced that former president of NMSU Jay Gogue as interim chancellor.
In a Feb. 15 press conference after men's basketball coach Greg Heiar was terminated for cause following what the school described at the time as hazing allegations, Arvizu backed Moccia to reporters as well as how the athletic department handled an Albuquerque shooting where former player Mike Peake shot and killed a University of New Mexico student in apparent self defense.
"Mario has been extremely transparent to me about all things that he knew and when he knew them and we have been in constant contact about the various things that we had control of and those things that were coming our way," Arvizu said.
More:Lawsuit filed against NMSU alleges sexual assault of two Aggies basketball players
"He still has my complete confidence to turn this program around. Clearly there are issues that we need to see why did it take so long to understand there was an issue. … I think there is plenty of evidence to support that this incident or set of incidents is contained in the men's basketball program, primarily a coach responsibility but the oversight of that is in question and we will continue to look at that moving forward."
In the past week, former New Mexico State basketball players Deuce Benjamin and Shakiru Odunewu, and Bejamin's father, William Benjamin, sued the Board of Regents, former head coach Greg Heiar, former assistant coach Dominique Taylor and former players DeShawndre Washington, Doctor Bradley and Kim Aiken Jr., alleging sexual assault, negligence, battery and false imprisonment.
Moccia's contract extension also comes after a recent ESPN story detailed a Title IX investigation regarding NMSU women’s basketball Director of Operations George Ross Jr., who allegedly sexually harassed a student who worked at the Pan American Center in the summer of 2022. The report was officially filed with the Title IX office on July 14, 2022. Ross was the Director of Basketball Operations last season, but his contract is set to expire at the end of April and will not be renewed.
Jason Groves can be reached at 575-541-5459 or jgroves@lcsun-news.com. Follow him on Twitter @jpgroves.
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