five Best-Compensated Women's Faculty Basketball Coaches
five Best-Compensated Women's Faculty Basketball Coaches
Blog Article
Girls’s faculty basketball has noticed exponential progress in viewership, expertise, and competitiveness over the past decade. While using the increased recognition and industrial good results in the Activity, particularly in NCAA Division I systems, coaching salaries have risen to mirror the value and leadership these top-tier coaches bring for their teams and universities. As universities proceed to invest of their Gals’s athletics departments, some standout coaches are reaping the money rewards that include making powerhouse packages.
Listed here’s a look at the 5 greatest-compensated Gals’s higher education basketball coaches as of 2025, showcasing not just their impressive salaries and also the achievements that justify their elite compensation.
one. Dawn Staley – University of South Carolina
Believed Annual Income: $3.one million
Dawn Staley continues being the gold normal in women’s faculty basketball coaching. A former WNBA star and Olympic gold medalist, Staley has designed South Carolina into a perennial powerhouse. Due to the fact taking over This system in 2008, she has led the Gamecocks to numerous NCAA Closing Four appearances and two nationwide championships (2017 and 2022).
In 2021, she built headlines by signing a historic 7-12 months, $22.four million contract, building her the highest-paid Black head mentor in Women of all ages's higher education basketball record. That deal has considering that been restructured and prolonged with efficiency incentives, positioning her firmly at the top of this checklist.
two. Geno Auriemma – College of Connecticut
Believed Annual Salary: $2.9 million
A residing legend, Geno Auriemma has guided the UConn Huskies to your jaw-dropping eleven national titles. His tenure at UConn, which began in 1985, has remodeled the program into Among the most dominant dynasties in college basketball background—Gentlemen's or Gals’s.
Auriemma’s longevity and consistent efficiency have ensured worthwhile agreement renewals. His existing deal features a foundation wage, media obligations, attire specials, and significant bonuses tied to NCAA Match runs. Even though UConn has confronted modern troubles with accidents and roster turnover, Auriemma’s legacy and leadership hold his price substantial.
3. Kim Mulkey – Louisiana State University (LSU)
Believed Once-a-year Wage: $2.7 million
After A prosperous two-ten years operate at Baylor, the place she gained three countrywide titles, Kim Mulkey stunned the basketball entire world by becoming a member of LSU in 2021. In just her next year Together with the Tigers, she led them into a 2023 national championship, bringing a new amount of pleasure and spotlight to Baton Rouge.
Her high-profile arrival arrived by using a rewarding 8-12 months, $23.6 million deal, generating her among the highest-compensated Girls’s coaches ever. Recognized for her passionate coaching design, flamboyant M88 fashion, and championship pedigree, Mulkey is central to LSU’s resurgence in Gals's hoops.
4. Brenda Frese – College of Maryland
Estimated Once-a-year Salary: $one.4 million
Brenda Frese has quietly designed a model of regularity at Maryland considering that taking over in 2002. With a number of conference championships, a nationwide title in 2006, and dozens of NCAA Tournament appearances, Frese has held the Terrapins in countrywide competition for more than two decades.
Her very long-term impression and advancement of major-tier talent have designed her indispensable to Maryland’s athletic department. Her recent offer contains bonuses for tutorial overall performance, wins, and postseason results—illustrating her dual dedication to athletics and scholar development.
5. Tara VanDerveer – Stanford University
Believed Once-a-year Salary: $1.3 million
Tara VanDerveer is not simply one of the highest-paid out coaches and also the winningest mentor in NCAA women's basketball background. She surpassed Pat Summitt’s all-time earn history and has led Stanford to three national titles (1990, 1992, and 2021) and numerous Ultimate 4 appearances.
When VanDerveer hasn't been 1 to chase flashy contracts, Stanford has ensured that her legacy and contributions are correctly compensated. Her Management, development of WNBA stars, and commitment to excellence have solidified her spot One of the all-time greats in coaching historical past.
A Transforming Landscape in Women of all ages's Basketball
The increasing salaries of these coaches are reflective of the expanding reputation and fiscal viability of ladies’s university basketball. Packages are attracting far more nationwide Television bargains, ticket revenue are growing, and corporate sponsors are getting to be additional invested in Gals's athletics.
The rise in coaching salaries is not just an indication of progress—it’s a recognition from the effort, Management, and results these coaches carry to their programs as well as sport as a whole.
Honorable Mentions
Though these five coaches presently guide the best way with regards to earnings, a number of Many others are going up:
Kelly Graves (Oregon)
Vic Schaefer (Texas)
Jeff Walz (Louisville)
Courtney Banghart (North Carolina)
Each and every of such coaches has manufactured substantial strides with their respective courses and could crack to the top five in the approaching a long time as women's basketball carries on to grow.
Closing Thoughts
The days of underfunded Women of all ages’s plans and underpaid coaches are steadily fading. These elite coaches not only command substantial salaries—In addition they mentor generations of athletes, shape the lifestyle in their universities, and elevate Ladies’s basketball to new heights. As being the sport continues to improve in recognition and guidance, we can assume these salaries—and the profiles of these leaders—to continue mounting.
Women’s higher education basketball isn’t just holding pace—it’s environment the tempo for the way forward for aggressive sporting activities.