five Highest-Paid Women's School Basketball Coaches
five Highest-Paid Women's School Basketball Coaches
Blog Article
Girls’s university basketball has found exponential growth in viewership, talent, and competitiveness over the past ten years. With all the greater attractiveness and professional achievements of your Activity, particularly in NCAA Division I systems, coaching salaries have risen to mirror the value and Management these major-tier coaches convey for their teams and universities. As universities carry on to invest of their Gals’s athletics departments, some standout coaches are reaping the fiscal rewards that include making powerhouse packages.
Right here’s a look at the 5 maximum-paid Gals’s higher education basketball coaches as of 2025, showcasing not just their extraordinary salaries but will also the achievements that justify their elite compensation.
one. Dawn Staley – University of South Carolina
Believed Yearly Income: $3.one million
Dawn Staley continues to be the gold typical in Females’s college or university basketball coaching. A former WNBA star and Olympic gold medalist, Staley has built South Carolina into a perennial powerhouse. Since taking up This system in 2008, she has led the Gamecocks to several NCAA Remaining Four appearances and two nationwide championships (2017 and 2022).
In 2021, she produced headlines by signing a historic seven-calendar year, $22.four million agreement, earning her the highest-paid out Black head mentor in Females's college or university basketball background. That offer has since been restructured and extended with general performance incentives, placing her firmly at the very best of the record.
2. Geno Auriemma – University of Connecticut
Approximated Yearly Income: $two.nine million
A living legend, Geno Auriemma has guided the UConn Huskies to some jaw-dropping 11 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 Girls’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 Match runs. Even though UConn has confronted modern troubles with accidents and roster turnover, Auriemma’s legacy and Management hold his price significant.
three. Kim Mulkey – Louisiana Condition University (LSU)
Estimated Once-a-year Income: $two.7 million
Right after An effective two-10 years run at Baylor, in which she received 3 countrywide titles, Kim Mulkey stunned the basketball planet by joining LSU in 2021. In only her 2nd season While using the Tigers, she led them to your 2023 nationwide M88 championship, bringing a brand new amount of excitement and Highlight to Baton Rouge.
Her significant-profile arrival came with a valuable 8-calendar year, $23.6 million deal, generating her among the best-paid out women’s coaches at any time. Noted for her passionate coaching model, flamboyant style, and championship pedigree, Mulkey is central to LSU’s resurgence in Women of all ages's hoops.
4. Brenda Frese – College of Maryland
Estimated Yearly Income: $1.four million
Brenda Frese has quietly constructed a design of regularity at Maryland considering that taking on in 2002. With a number of meeting championships, a national title in 2006, and dozens of NCAA Event appearances, Frese has kept the Terrapins in nationwide rivalry for over 20 years.
Her very long-term affect and improvement of prime-tier expertise have produced her indispensable to Maryland’s athletic Section. Her present-day deal involves bonuses for tutorial overall performance, wins, and postseason accomplishment—illustrating her twin commitment to athletics and pupil progress.
five. Tara VanDerveer – Stanford College
Believed Annual Salary: $1.3 million
Tara VanDerveer is not merely considered one of the best-compensated coaches but also the winningest coach in NCAA Females's basketball heritage. She surpassed Pat Summitt’s all-time gain history and it has led Stanford to 3 countrywide titles (1990, 1992, and 2021) and various Final Four appearances.
While VanDerveer has never been a single to chase flashy contracts, Stanford has ensured that her legacy and contributions are properly compensated. Her leadership, advancement of WNBA stars, and dedication to excellence have solidified her area One of the all-time greats in coaching historical past.
A Shifting Landscape in Gals's Basketball
The raising salaries of those coaches are reflective on the rising level of popularity and money viability of ladies’s higher education basketball. Packages are attracting far more national TV deals, ticket gross sales are expanding, and company sponsors have become more invested in women's sporting activities.
The rise in coaching salaries is not just an indication of progress—it’s a recognition of the exertions, leadership, and success these coaches convey to their applications and the Activity as a whole.
Honorable Mentions
When these five coaches currently direct the way in which in terms of earnings, various Other folks are on the rise:
Kelly Graves (Oregon)
Vic Schaefer (Texas)
Jeff Walz (Louisville)
Courtney Banghart (North Carolina)
Just about every of these coaches has built important strides with their respective programs and could crack in to the major five in the approaching many years as Gals's basketball continues to increase.
Final Feelings
The times of underfunded Ladies’s systems and underpaid coaches are steadily fading. These elite coaches not just command significant salaries—they also mentor generations of athletes, form the lifestyle in their universities, and elevate Ladies’s basketball to new heights. As being the Activity continues to expand in attractiveness and assistance, we could expect these salaries—as well as the profiles of those leaders—to carry on rising.
Females’s faculty basketball isn’t just keeping pace—it’s environment the tempo for the way forward for aggressive athletics.