Rhode Island promotes David Cox to head coach

Rhode Island officially promoted David Cox to head coach Wednesday.

Cox had a stipulation in his contract that would have paid him $150,000 if he was bypassed for the job for someone else, sources told SNY's Adam Zagoria, who adds that Cox will make $3.5 million over five years.

The Rams' top job opened up when Dan Hurley departed for Connecticut last month. On Tuesday, the university shot down a report it had reached an agreement with Rick Pitino, and demanded the report be retracted.