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Tennessee men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl already got his chunk of the reward for a Sweet 16 season.

On Thursday, his coaching staff got its piece of the prize with raises that increase the total salary of the four to more than $500,000.

“Coach (Bruce) Pearl and his staff have accomplished great things for our basketball program and brought new life to Tennessee basketball,” said UT athletic director Mike Hamilton in a release. “We look forward to the 2007-08 season with great anticipation and the role that each of our assistant coaches will play in our success.”

The Vols finished last season 24-11 and made the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive year. UT is projected to be ranked in the top 10 of most preseason polls.

The raises were effective July 1. The combined salaries for the assistant coaches jump from $472,246 to $511,946.

Associated head coach Tony Jones, who is starting his third year with Pearl at UT after working with him at Wisconsin-Milwaukee, received a $10,850 raise and will earn the highest salary for an assistant at $165,850.

Assistant coach Steve Forbes, who joined the staff last year, will earn $155,246, and received the largest raise at $15,000.

Assistant coach Jason Shay received a $10,000 bump and now earns $110,000 and director of basketball operations Ken Johnson received the smallest raise — $3,850 — to move to $80,850.

Shay and Johnson were with Pearl at Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

“I wanted my assistant coaches to share in our success and make sure that their increases were in line with my increase,” said Pearl in a statement. “You are only as good as the people you surround yourself with, and I feel like I have the best staff in the country.”

Last month UT altered Pearl’s contract. It runs six years and is worth $1.3 million for the 2007-08 season. It features escalator raises of $100,000 annually through the 2012-13 season and retention (longevity) bonuses of $500,000 after the 2009-10 season and another $500,000 after the 2012-13 season.

Pearl’s contract paid him $1.1 million last season and originally called for him to make $1.2 million this season and did not include the $1 million in retention bonuses.

© 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.