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Lute Olson could grow richer with the Arizona Wildcats' success, although he has not coached a game this season.

The head men's basketball coach, on an unexplained paid leave of absence, has six categories of bonus clauses in his contract that reward the coach for team achievements.

The UA athletic department says it has not decided who will get any money awarded for the team's success.

Because Olson has a contract, that could ensure he receives some compensation. Other options are to give bonuses to interim coach Kevin O'Neill, to no one or to both retroactively.

O'Neill is currently working under an agreement to be paid $375,000 this season. Coaching assistants at Arizona do not have contracts.

According to Olson's contract that runs through the 2010-11 season, he receives $20,000 if the team wins at least 20 regular-season games, counting next week's Pac-10 tournament. The Wildcats have 18 wins entering tonight's game at Oregon.

Olson also gets $15,000 if the team wins the Pac-10 tournament, the contract states.

Bonuses also exist for advancing to the second game of the NCAA tournament — but not for making either the NCAA tournament or the National Invitational Tournament. Olson also receives payouts for his team's academic success.

Reached Friday, senior associate athletic director Kathleen "Rocky" LaRose said financial bonuses will be figured out later.

"We will sort through and determine the contracted bonus issues at the conclusion of the season and academic year as appropriate," she said from San Jose, Calif., home of this weekend's Pac-10 women's basketball tournament.

O'Neill said Friday in Eugene, Ore., that he had "no idea" whether Olson will receive the bonuses. He said athletic department administrators have not discussed the topic with him.

"We've never talked about it," he said. "It's never been brought up."

Olson, in his 25th year on campus, announced a temporary leave of absence in November, and one month later extended it through the rest of the season.

Thursday, UA President Robert Shelton said Olson and athletic director Jim Livengood will meet soon to discuss the coach's future.

Olson has maintained his title of head coach all season and has said he plans to return for the 2008-09 season.

His contract does not specifically preclude Olson from receiving bonuses if he is on a leave of absence. A paragraph about NCAA tournament bonuses states that "additional compensation" on top of the bonuses "shall be payable for a particular contract year only if coach was employed by the university as head coach during the entire men's basketball season for that contract year."

Payouts for NCAA tournament are based on the team's total finish, not a running total of achievements:

● $175,000 for winning the NCAA tournament

● $50,000 for advancing to the Final Four

● $30,000 for advancing to the Elite Eight

● $15,000 for advancing to the second round of the NCAA tournament

Olson is contracted to receive $30,000 if the Wildcats are ranked in the top 10 of the NCAA postseason championship standings; he gets $20,000 if they are ranked in the top 15.

Academic success is judged by the team's grade-point average and graduation rate, the latter being measured by a rolling four-year average of players who earned their degree within six years. Olson's payouts range from $5,000 to $25,000.

Should the Wildcats advance to the NCAA tournament, it's unlikely O'Neill's traveling party will match Olson's from years past. Under Olson's contract, up to 15 friends and family members received NCAA tournament game tickets, airline tickets — either on a chartered or commercial flight — and rooms in the team hotel.

LaRose would only say that O'Neill's wife, Roberta, will go to the NCAA tournament.

"Roberta travels with Kevin," she said, "and that will continue."