Arizona reportedly paid $1.5 million toward AD Desireé Reed-Francois' $2 million settlement with Missouri

Arizona has paid the maximum of $1.5 million it had pledged toward Desireé Reed-Francois' buyout of her contract at Missouri, where she left as athletic director in February to take the same position at UA.

In reporting this week that Reed-Francois reached a $2 million settlement with Missouri, KMIZ-TV of Columbia, Missouri, said that in July UA paid the $1.5 million, which UA has previously said in its contract terms was the most it would pay toward her buyout.

Upon hiring Reed-Francois in February, UA released a terms sheet stating that Reed-Francois must "undertake best efforts to reduce or eliminate any financial buyout (owed) to the University of Missouri" and that UA's share paid to Missouri would come from "donor-based funding."

Reed-Francois reportedly faced a buyout of nearly $3 million but the two sides ultimately settled on $2 million, according to KMIZ-TV. She will have to pay the extra $500,000, with the option of doing so in installments through March 2028.

Under terms of her UA contract, Reed-Francois is scheduled to make $1.25 million in 2024-25, including $250,000 in funds from the UA Foundation. She is contracted to receive $50,000 salary escalators each of the next four seasons through the end of her contract in 2028-29 as well as an $800,000 retention bonus if she stays until February 1, 2028 and another $200,000 if she stays until February 1, 2029.

If she leaves UA during the term of her contract, Reed-Francois will be on the hook for buyouts that start at $1 million in 2024-25 and drop $250,000 in each successive year, with no buyout in 2028-29.

Contact sports reporter Bruce Pascoe at . On X(Twitter):

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