5 Best-Compensated Women's Higher education Basketball Coaches
5 Best-Compensated Women's Higher education Basketball Coaches
Blog Article
Ladies’s higher education basketball has found exponential development in viewership, talent, and competitiveness over the past decade. Along with the amplified recognition and commercial achievement from the sport, specifically in NCAA Division I programs, coaching salaries have risen to replicate the worth and leadership these best-tier coaches deliver to their groups and universities. As universities continue on to take a position within their Females’s athletics departments, a couple of standout coaches are reaping the monetary benefits that include creating powerhouse applications.
Here’s a think about the five highest-compensated Girls’s university basketball coaches as of 2025, showcasing not just their impressive salaries but will also the achievements that justify their elite compensation.
one. Dawn Staley – University of South Carolina
Believed Yearly Salary: $three.1 million
Dawn Staley carries on to become the gold conventional in Girls’s university basketball coaching. A previous WNBA star and Olympic gold medalist, Staley has created South Carolina right into a perennial powerhouse. Due to the fact taking over This system in 2008, she has led the Gamecocks to multiple NCAA Closing Four appearances and two nationwide championships (2017 and 2022).
In 2021, she built headlines by signing a historic 7-calendar year, $22.4 million agreement, making her the very best-compensated Black head coach in Girls's school basketball heritage. That offer has given that been restructured and prolonged with efficiency incentives, positioning her firmly at the top of this listing.
two. Geno Auriemma – College of Connecticut
Estimated Annual Wage: $two.nine million
A dwelling legend, Geno Auriemma has guided the UConn Huskies to some jaw-dropping 11 nationwide titles. His tenure at UConn, which commenced in 1985, has transformed the program into The most dominant dynasties in college basketball background—Gentlemen's or Women of all ages’s.
Auriemma’s longevity and constant functionality have ensured valuable contract renewals. His recent deal features a foundation income, media obligations, clothing promotions, and significant bonuses tied to NCAA Event operates. While UConn has confronted recent difficulties with injuries and roster turnover, Auriemma’s legacy and leadership maintain his price substantial.
3. Kim Mulkey – Louisiana State University (LSU)
Estimated Annual Salary: $two.7 million
Immediately after A prosperous two-ten years operate at Baylor, wherever she gained 3 countrywide titles, Kim Mulkey shocked the basketball environment by signing up for LSU in 2021. In only her 2nd time Along with the Tigers, she led them to your 2023 countrywide championship, bringing a completely new stage of excitement and spotlight to Baton Rouge.
Her high-profile arrival arrived that has a beneficial 8-year, $23.six million agreement, creating her certainly one of the best-compensated Women of all ages’s coaches at any time. Recognized for M88 her passionate coaching type, flamboyant style, and championship pedigree, Mulkey is central to LSU’s resurgence in Ladies's hoops.
four. Brenda Frese – University of Maryland
Believed Yearly Income: $1.four million
Brenda Frese has quietly designed a model of regularity at Maryland due to the fact taking over in 2002. With various convention championships, a national title in 2006, and dozens of NCAA Match appearances, Frese has kept the Terrapins in nationwide contention for more than twenty years.
Her prolonged-term impression and growth of leading-tier expertise have made her indispensable to Maryland’s athletic Section. Her present offer consists of bonuses for educational overall performance, 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 amongst the highest-paid coaches and also the winningest mentor in NCAA Ladies's basketball heritage. She surpassed Pat Summitt’s all-time win document and has led Stanford to a few countrywide titles (1990, 1992, and 2021) and various Final Four appearances.
Even though VanDerveer has not been one to chase flashy contracts, Stanford has ensured that her legacy and contributions are appropriately compensated. Her leadership, growth of WNBA stars, and motivation to excellence have solidified her put among the all-time greats in coaching history.
A Modifying Landscape in Girls's Basketball
The raising salaries of such coaches are reflective of your growing recognition and economic viability of ladies’s higher education basketball. Packages are attracting additional nationwide Tv set discounts, ticket profits are raising, and company sponsors have become a lot more invested in Females's sports activities.
The rise in coaching salaries is not merely an indication of progress—it’s a recognition in the hard work, Management, and achievements these coaches provide to their plans as well as the sport in general.
Honorable Mentions
Even though these five coaches presently guide how regarding earnings, numerous Other people are rising:
Kelly Graves (Oregon)
Vic Schaefer (Texas)
Jeff Walz (Louisville)
Courtney Banghart (North Carolina)
Just about every of those coaches has made sizeable strides with their respective packages and could split in to the major five in the approaching several years as Ladies's basketball proceeds to develop.
Last Feelings
The days of underfunded Gals’s plans and underpaid coaches are steadily fading. These elite coaches not only command substantial salaries—they also mentor generations of athletes, form the society of their universities, and elevate Gals’s basketball to new heights. Because the Activity continues to expand in popularity and guidance, we will anticipate these salaries—and the profiles of those leaders—to carry on increasing.
Gals’s university basketball isn’t just holding pace—it’s environment the speed for the way forward for competitive sports activities.