{"id":19335,"date":"2026-07-01T18:01:41","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T18:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=19335"},"modified":"2026-07-01T18:01:41","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T18:01:41","slug":"former-celebrated-california-baptist-basketball-coach-sues-university-over-200000-buyout-clause","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=19335","title":{"rendered":"Former celebrated California Baptist basketball coach sues university over $200,000 buyout clause"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The California Baptist basketball coach celebrated for taking his team on a Cinderella journey to the NCAA Division I tournament this year is suing the Riverside university for trying to force him to pay $200,000 for taking a new job before his contract was up.<\/p>\n

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Richard \u201cRick\u201d Croy, who spent 13 seasons as CBU\u2019s head men\u2019s basketball coach, filed a lawsuit seeking to invalidate a provision in his employment contract that requires him or a subsequent employer to pay the university if he left before June 30, 2026.<\/p>\n

Croy announced his resignation on March 29, after his team narrowly lost to the Kansas Jayhawks in the first round of the March Madness Tournament. He said he had accepted a position as the associate head coach at Arizona State University in Tempe.<\/p>\n

The complaint, filed June 5 in Riverside County Superior Court, said Croy carefully timed his resignation to avoid disrupting CBU\u2019s recruiting efforts. By submitting his resignation at the conclusion of the basketball season \u2014 the university\u2019s most successful ever \u2014 he gave administrators ample time to recruit, hire and install his successor, the suit said.<\/p>\n

But California Baptist nevertheless opted to hold Croy to a six-year employment contract he signed in May 2021. That contract included a graduated tier of declining payments he would owe as a buyout if he left to coach at a competing university \u2014 with the exception of UC Berkeley, Stanford University or USC \u2014 before certain dates. The final date, June 30, 2026, called for a payment of $200,000 to CBU.<\/p>\n

Croy contends the clause is an unlawful restraint on employment masquerading as a so-called liquidated damages provision, which calls for a preset amount of money to be paid for breach of contract.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe provision is structured as a deterrent to competitive employment, not compensation for an ascertainable loss,\u201d according to the complaint, noting the specific carve-outs for UC Berkeley, Stanford and USC in the buyout provision of his contract.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that the buyout only applies to departures to competing coaching positions further underscores its anti-competitive character,\u201d the complaint said.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

The complaint also argues the buyout provision bears no reasonable relationship to any financial losses the university could have anticipated, was not based on an analysis of actual damages and effectively discourages coaches from accepting jobs at competing universities.<\/p>\n

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The complaint calls it \u201ca coercive penalty designed to restrain plaintiff\u2019s employment mobility,\u201d adding that California has long held that \u201cevery contract by which anyone is restrained from engaging in a lawful profession, trade or business of any kind is to that extent void.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additionally, Croy argues that the buyout provision should not apply because he accepted an associate head coaching position rather than another head coaching job, and that his position at Arizona State is a subordinate role with less authority and responsibility than the position he held at California Baptist.<\/p>\n

The complaint asks the court to declare the $200,000 buyout provision unenforceable under California law, or, alternatively, inapplicable to Croy\u2019s move to Arizona State, and prohibit the university from attempting to collect the money while the legal dispute is pending arbitration or other possible resolutions<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

According to the lawsuit, Croy was hired by California Baptist in 2013, when its basketball team competed in the NCAA\u2019s Division II.\u00a0Croy guided CBU through its final five years as a Division II school and led the Lancers to 132 wins, two conference championships, and five NCAA Division II National Tournament appearances.<\/p>\n

In 2018, the Lancers attained NCAA Division I status under Croy\u2019s leadership. He led his team to 143 wins at the Division I level, amassing an overall 275-137 record in his tenure.<\/p>\n

The Lancers move from the Western Athletic Conference into the Big West Conference next season. Arizona State competes in the Big 12 Conference.<\/p>\n

Attorneys representing Croy did not respond to requests for comment. Officials at California Baptist also did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

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Rick Croy claims the provision in his contract was intended to deter his employment at other universities and is unenforceable under California law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19334,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-based-on-facts-either-observed-and-verified-directly-by-the-reporter-or-reported-and-verified-from-knowledgeable-sources","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nFormer celebrated California Baptist basketball coach sues university over $200,000 buyout clause - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=19335\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former celebrated California Baptist basketball coach sues university over $200,000 buyout clause - 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