five Highest-Paid Gals's Higher education Basketball Coaches
five Highest-Paid Gals's Higher education Basketball Coaches
Blog Article
Girls’s faculty basketball has seen exponential development in viewership, talent, and competitiveness over the past ten years. Along with the amplified popularity and commercial success of the Activity, specifically in NCAA Division I courses, coaching salaries have risen to replicate the value and leadership these top-tier coaches convey for their teams and universities. As universities carry on to invest of their Girls’s athletics departments, a number of standout coaches are reaping the fiscal rewards that include constructing powerhouse plans.
Here’s a think about the five highest-compensated Girls’s university basketball coaches as of 2025, showcasing not only their outstanding salaries but in addition the achievements that justify their elite compensation.
one. Dawn Staley – University of South Carolina
Approximated Annual Wage: $three.1 million
Dawn Staley proceeds for being the gold standard in Gals’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 many NCAA Last 4 appearances and two national championships (2017 and 2022).
In 2021, she manufactured headlines by signing a historic seven-yr, $22.four million deal, producing her the best-compensated Black head coach in Gals's college basketball historical past. That offer has because been restructured and extended with overall performance incentives, inserting her firmly at the best of the list.
2. Geno Auriemma – University of Connecticut
Approximated Once-a-year Income: $two.9 million
A living legend, Geno Auriemma has guided the UConn Huskies into a jaw-dropping eleven countrywide titles. His tenure at UConn, which commenced in 1985, has transformed the program into Just about the most dominant dynasties in faculty basketball history—Guys's or Girls’s.
Auriemma’s longevity and dependable overall performance have ensured beneficial deal renewals. His present-day deal features a foundation wage, media obligations, attire specials, and significant bonuses tied to NCAA Match operates. 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 Along with the Tigers, she led them to your 2023 nationwide championship, bringing a brand new level of pleasure and spotlight to Baton Rouge.
Her higher-profile arrival arrived using a rewarding eight-12 months, $23.6 million deal, generating her one among the highest-compensated Females’s coaches ever. Recognized for her passionate coaching design, flamboyant 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 Income: $one.4 million
Brenda Frese has quietly constructed a product of regularity at Maryland considering the fact that taking on in 2002. With various meeting championships, a national title in 2006, and dozens of NCAA Match appearances, Frese has kept the Terrapins in nationwide competition for more than two decades.
Her extended-expression affect and progress of best-tier talent have created her indispensable to Maryland’s athletic Office. Her recent deal includes bonuses for educational overall performance, wins, and postseason success—illustrating her twin commitment to athletics and student improvement.
five. Tara VanDerveer – Stanford College
Estimated Yearly Wage: $one.3 million
Tara VanDerveer is not only one among the best-paid coaches but additionally the winningest mentor in NCAA Girls's basketball history. She surpassed Pat Summitt’s all-time gain document and has led Stanford to 3 nationwide titles (1990, 1992, and 2021) and numerous Last Four appearances.
While VanDerveer has never been just one to chase flashy contracts, Stanford has ensured that her legacy and contributions are appropriately compensated. Her Management, development of WNBA stars, and determination to excellence have solidified her area Amongst the all-time greats in coaching historical past.
A Modifying Landscape in Gals's Basketball
The expanding salaries of these coaches are reflective on the developing popularity and money viability of ladies’s higher education basketball. Programs are attracting additional national Television set discounts, ticket income are growing, and company sponsors have become a lot more invested in women's sporting activities.
The rise in coaching salaries is not only an indication of progress—it’s a recognition of the exertions, Management, and good results these coaches deliver to their courses as well as the Activity in general.
Honorable Mentions
Whilst these five coaches now lead the way in which concerning earnings, numerous Some others are rising:
Kelly Graves (Oregon)
Vic Schaefer (Texas)
Jeff Walz (Louisville)
Courtney Banghart (North Carolina)
Every of those coaches has designed sizeable strides with their respective programs and will crack into the leading 5 in the coming a long time as women's basketball M88 proceeds to grow.
Remaining Ideas
The days of underfunded Women of all ages’s programs and underpaid coaches are steadily fading. These elite coaches not merely command high salaries—Additionally they mentor generations of athletes, form the culture of their universities, and elevate Ladies’s basketball to new heights. Given that the Activity continues to develop in attractiveness and aid, we will count on these salaries—and the profiles of those leaders—to carry on increasing.
Ladies’s college basketball isn’t just holding pace—it’s environment the speed for the way forward for aggressive sports activities.