5 Best-Compensated Women's College Basketball Coaches
5 Best-Compensated Women's College Basketball Coaches
Blog Article
Females’s faculty basketball has seen exponential development in viewership, talent, and competitiveness over the past decade. Along with the amplified recognition and commercial achievement from the Activity, specifically in NCAA Division I courses, coaching salaries have risen to replicate the worth and leadership these leading-tier coaches bring for their groups and universities. As universities keep on to take a position in their women’s athletics departments, a handful of standout coaches are reaping the money rewards that come with setting up powerhouse systems.
Listed here’s a look at the 5 maximum-paid women’s college or university basketball coaches as of 2025, showcasing not simply their remarkable salaries but also the achievements that justify their elite payment.
1. Dawn Staley – College of South Carolina
Estimated Once-a-year Salary: $three.1 million
Dawn Staley carries on for being the gold conventional in Girls’s university basketball coaching. A previous WNBA star and Olympic gold medalist, Staley has developed South Carolina right into a perennial powerhouse. Considering that taking on the program in 2008, she has led the Gamecocks to various NCAA Ultimate 4 appearances and two national championships (2017 and 2022).
In 2021, she designed headlines by signing a historic 7-yr, $22.four million contract, generating her the highest-paid out Black head mentor in women's higher education basketball history. That deal has due to the fact been restructured and prolonged with effectiveness incentives, placing her firmly at the very best of the record.
2. Geno Auriemma – University of Connecticut
Estimated Yearly Income: $two.nine million
A living legend, Geno Auriemma has guided the UConn Huskies to some jaw-dropping eleven nationwide titles. His tenure at UConn, which commenced in 1985, has reworked the program into Just about the most dominant dynasties in college or university basketball history—Guys's or Gals’s.
Auriemma’s longevity and dependable overall performance have ensured worthwhile agreement renewals. His latest deal features a foundation wage, media obligations, attire specials, and significant bonuses tied to NCAA Event operates. When UConn has confronted new troubles with accidents and roster turnover, Auriemma’s legacy and Management hold his price substantial.
3. Kim Mulkey – Louisiana Condition University (LSU)
Estimated Once-a-year Income: $two.7 million
Right after a successful two-decade operate at Baylor, where by she received 3 national titles, Kim Mulkey shocked the basketball world by signing up for LSU in 2021. In only her second season with the Tigers, she led them to the 2023 countrywide championship, bringing a different degree of excitement and Highlight to Baton Rouge.
Her substantial-profile arrival came having a lucrative eight-yr, $23.6 million deal, producing her one of the best-paid out Girls’s coaches ever. Noted for her passionate coaching type, flamboyant style, and championship pedigree, Mulkey is central to LSU’s resurgence in women's hoops.
four. Brenda Frese – University of Maryland
Believed Annual Income: $1.four million
Brenda Frese has quietly constructed a product of consistency at Maryland considering the fact that taking up in 2002. With multiple convention championships, a national title in 2006, and dozens of NCAA Match appearances, Frese has kept the Terrapins in nationwide rivalry for over twenty years.
Her extended-time period effect and development of prime-tier expertise have created her indispensable to Maryland’s athletic Office. Her existing offer includes bonuses for educational performance, wins, and postseason accomplishment—illustrating her twin commitment to athletics and college student enhancement.
5. Tara VanDerveer – Stanford University
Approximated Once-a-year Income: $1.3 million
Tara VanDerveer is not merely amongst the highest-paid out coaches and also the winningest mentor in NCAA women's basketball background. She surpassed Pat Summitt’s M88 all-time earn history and it has led Stanford to three national titles (1990, 1992, and 2021) and numerous Ultimate 4 appearances.
When VanDerveer hasn't been one to chase flashy contracts, Stanford has ensured that her legacy and contributions are appropriately compensated. Her leadership, advancement of WNBA stars, and motivation to excellence have solidified her position Amongst the all-time greats in coaching record.
A Changing Landscape in Ladies's Basketball
The escalating salaries of those coaches are reflective in the increasing level of popularity and money viability of girls’s faculty basketball. Courses are attracting extra countrywide Tv set discounts, ticket income are rising, and corporate sponsors have become much more invested in Ladies's sports.
The increase in coaching salaries is not simply a sign of development—it’s a recognition with the exertions, leadership, and success these coaches convey for their plans and also the Activity as a whole.
Honorable Mentions
Whilst these 5 coaches at the moment lead the way concerning earnings, various Other individuals are on the rise:
Kelly Graves (Oregon)
Vic Schaefer (Texas)
Jeff Walz (Louisville)
Courtney Banghart (North Carolina)
Each individual of those coaches has made sizeable strides with their respective packages and will split into the prime five in the approaching years as Gals's basketball continues to improve.
Last Views
The days of underfunded Gals’s applications and underpaid coaches are steadily fading. These elite coaches not simply command higher salaries—In addition they mentor generations of athletes, shape the tradition in their universities, and elevate Ladies’s basketball to new heights. As being the Activity continues to increase in recognition and assist, we can assume these salaries—and the profiles of these leaders—to continue mounting.
Ladies’s higher education basketball isn’t just keeping pace—it’s environment the speed for the way forward for aggressive sports.