5 Highest-Compensated Ladies's Faculty Basketball Coaches
5 Highest-Compensated Ladies's Faculty Basketball Coaches
Blog Article
Gals’s faculty basketball has noticed exponential development in viewership, talent, and competitiveness over the past decade. While using the increased popularity and commercial success of the Activity, specifically in NCAA Division I systems, coaching salaries have risen to mirror the value and leadership these top-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 greatest-compensated 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 Ladies’s college basketball coaching. A former WNBA star and Olympic gold medalist, Staley has built South Carolina right into a perennial powerhouse. Due to the fact taking over This system in 2008, she has led the Gamecocks to numerous NCAA Remaining Four appearances and two nationwide championships (2017 and 2022).
In 2021, she made headlines by signing a historic 7-calendar year, $22.4 million agreement, earning her the very best-paid out Black head mentor in Females's college or university basketball historical past. That deal has because been restructured and extended with effectiveness incentives, placing her firmly at the highest of the record.
2. Geno Auriemma – University of Connecticut
Approximated Yearly 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 reworked This system into Just about the most dominant dynasties in faculty basketball history—Males's or Girls’s.
Auriemma’s longevity and dependable performance have ensured rewarding agreement renewals. His latest deal features a foundation wage, media obligations, attire discounts, and significant bonuses tied to NCAA Match runs. Even though UConn has faced modern difficulties with accidents and roster turnover, Auriemma’s legacy and Management retain his price significant.
three. Kim Mulkey – Louisiana Point out College (LSU)
Approximated Yearly Wage: $2.seven million
After An effective two-decade run at Baylor, where she received a few nationwide titles, Kim Mulkey shocked the basketball planet by joining LSU in 2021. In only her next period Together with the Tigers, she led them into a 2023 national championship, bringing a new amount of excitement and spotlight to Baton Rouge.
Her high-profile arrival arrived by using a rewarding 8-12 months, $23.6 million contract, making her amongst the best-compensated Women of all ages’s coaches at any time. M88 Known for her passionate coaching design and style, flamboyant vogue, and championship pedigree, Mulkey is central to LSU’s resurgence in Females's hoops.
4. Brenda Frese – University of Maryland
Estimated Yearly Salary: $one.four million
Brenda Frese has quietly designed a model of regularity at Maryland given that taking on in 2002. With a number of conference championships, a nationwide title in 2006, and dozens of NCAA Event appearances, Frese has held the Terrapins in countrywide competition for more than two decades.
Her prolonged-term influence and development of top rated-tier talent have built her indispensable to Maryland’s athletic Division. Her present-day deal features bonuses for academic performance, wins, and postseason accomplishment—illustrating her twin dedication to athletics and scholar improvement.
five. Tara VanDerveer – Stanford College
Believed Annual Wage: $one.three million
Tara VanDerveer is not only one among the best-compensated coaches but additionally the winningest coach in NCAA Women of all ages's basketball background. She surpassed Pat Summitt’s all-time acquire history and it has led Stanford to three national titles (1990, 1992, and 2021) and numerous Ultimate 4 appearances.
Though VanDerveer has never been 1 to chase flashy contracts, Stanford has ensured that her legacy and contributions are properly compensated. Her Management, progress of WNBA stars, and determination to excellence have solidified her place One of the all-time greats in coaching background.
A Shifting Landscape in Gals's Basketball
The expanding salaries of such coaches are reflective of the expanding reputation and fiscal viability of ladies’s higher education basketball. Systems are attracting additional nationwide 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 progress—it’s a recognition of your exertions, leadership, and achievement these coaches deliver for their packages along with the sport in general.
Honorable Mentions
Even though these five coaches currently guide the best way when it comes to earnings, several Many others are going up:
Kelly Graves (Oregon)
Vic Schaefer (Texas)
Jeff Walz (Louisville)
Courtney Banghart (North Carolina)
Each and every of such coaches has designed considerable strides with their respective programs and will break in the leading 5 in the coming decades as Females's basketball proceeds to increase.
Final Feelings
The times of underfunded Girls’s programs and underpaid coaches are steadily fading. These elite coaches not merely command high salaries—Additionally they mentor generations of athletes, shape the tradition in their universities, and elevate Ladies’s basketball to new heights. Given that the sport carries on to mature in reputation and aid, we are able to be expecting these salaries—as well as the profiles of those leaders—to carry on increasing.
Girls’s college or university basketball isn’t just retaining speed—it’s location the pace for the future of competitive sports activities.