5 Best-Compensated Females's College or university Basketball Coaches
5 Best-Compensated Females's College or university Basketball Coaches
Blog Article
Females’s higher education basketball has found exponential development in viewership, talent, and competitiveness over the past decade. While using the increased reputation and industrial good results on the sport, especially in NCAA Division I applications, coaching salaries have risen to reflect the worth and Management these prime-tier coaches carry to their groups and universities. As universities go on to speculate inside their Females’s athletics departments, several standout coaches are reaping the fiscal rewards that come with creating powerhouse courses.
Here’s a think about the five highest-compensated Girls’s university basketball coaches as of 2025, showcasing not only their spectacular 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 to generally be the gold common in Ladies’s college or university basketball coaching. A former WNBA star and Olympic gold medalist, Staley has crafted 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 7-calendar year, $22.4 million agreement, making her the very best-compensated Black head coach in Females's college or university basketball historical past. That offer has because been restructured and prolonged with overall performance incentives, placing her firmly at the best of the checklist.
2. Geno Auriemma – College of Connecticut
Approximated Annual Salary: $two.9 million
A residing legend, Geno Auriemma has guided the UConn Huskies to the jaw-dropping eleven national titles. His tenure at UConn, which started in 1985, has remodeled This system into Probably the most dominant dynasties in faculty basketball historical past—Gentlemen's or women’s.
Auriemma’s longevity and steady general performance have ensured profitable agreement renewals. His recent agreement features a base wage, media obligations, attire discounts, and significant bonuses tied to NCAA Match runs. Even though UConn has faced modern troubles with accidents and roster turnover, Auriemma’s legacy and Management retain his price significant.
three. Kim Mulkey – Louisiana Condition University (LSU)
Estimated Annual Income: $two.seven million
Immediately after A prosperous two-10 years run at Baylor, exactly where she won a few countrywide titles, Kim Mulkey shocked the basketball planet by joining LSU in 2021. In only her next time With all the Tigers, she led them into a 2023 countrywide championship, bringing a completely new amount of excitement and Highlight to Baton Rouge.
Her higher-profile arrival arrived using M88 a beneficial eight-yr, $23.6 million deal, generating her one among the highest-compensated Gals’s coaches ever. Noted for her passionate coaching type, flamboyant style, and championship pedigree, Mulkey is central to LSU’s resurgence in Ladies's hoops.
four. Brenda Frese – College of Maryland
Approximated Once-a-year Salary: $1.four million
Brenda Frese has quietly designed a design of regularity at Maryland due to the fact taking over in 2002. With various convention championships, a countrywide title in 2006, and dozens of NCAA Match appearances, Frese has saved the Terrapins in nationwide rivalry for over twenty years.
Her extended-time period effect and development of top rated-tier talent have manufactured her indispensable to Maryland’s athletic department. Her recent offer contains bonuses for tutorial efficiency, wins, and postseason achievements—illustrating her dual motivation to athletics and student growth.
five. Tara VanDerveer – Stanford College
Estimated Yearly Income: $one.3 million
Tara VanDerveer is not merely considered one of the highest-paid coaches and also the winningest mentor in NCAA Ladies's basketball historical past. She surpassed Pat Summitt’s all-time gain record and has led Stanford to a few nationwide titles (1990, 1992, and 2021) and diverse Remaining 4 appearances.
Even though VanDerveer has not been just one to chase flashy contracts, Stanford has ensured that her legacy and contributions are correctly compensated. Her Management, improvement of WNBA stars, and dedication to excellence have solidified her area Among the many all-time greats in coaching record.
A Changing Landscape in Ladies's Basketball
The escalating salaries of those coaches are reflective in the increasing attractiveness and economical viability of girls’s college basketball. Programs are attracting much more national TV deals, ticket sales are increasing, and company 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 in the hard work, Management, and results these coaches provide to their applications and the Activity as a whole.
Honorable Mentions
Whilst these 5 coaches at this time direct the way concerning earnings, various Other folks are on the rise:
Kelly Graves (Oregon)
Vic Schaefer (Texas)
Jeff Walz (Louisville)
Courtney Banghart (North Carolina)
Each of those coaches has produced significant strides with their respective systems and could crack in to the major five in the approaching a long time as women's basketball carries on to develop.
Closing Ideas
The times of underfunded Ladies’s systems and underpaid coaches are steadily fading. These elite coaches not just command superior salaries—they also mentor generations of athletes, form the culture of their universities, and elevate Women of all ages’s basketball to new heights. Since the Activity continues to increase in popularity 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 tempo—it’s placing the speed for the way forward for aggressive sports.