5 Greatest-Paid Girls's College Basketball Coaches
5 Greatest-Paid Girls's College Basketball Coaches
Blog Article
Girls’s faculty basketball has seen exponential development in viewership, talent, and competitiveness over the past decade. While using the increased recognition and industrial achievement from the sport, specifically in NCAA Division I programs, coaching salaries have risen to replicate the worth and leadership these leading-tier coaches bring for their groups and universities. As universities proceed to invest in their Gals’s athletics departments, a handful of standout coaches are reaping the money rewards that come with setting up powerhouse systems.
Listed here’s a look at the 5 maximum-paid women’s college or university basketball coaches as of 2025, showcasing not simply their amazing salaries but additionally the achievements that justify their elite payment.
1. Dawn Staley – College of South Carolina
Estimated Once-a-year Salary: $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. Given that taking on the program in 2008, she has led the Gamecocks to many NCAA Last 4 appearances and two countrywide championships (2017 and 2022).
In 2021, she manufactured headlines by signing a historic seven-year, $22.4 million deal, producing her the best-paid Black head coach in Gals's school basketball heritage. That offer has given that been restructured and prolonged with efficiency incentives, inserting her firmly at the best of this checklist.
2. Geno Auriemma – College of Connecticut
Believed Once-a-year Salary: $2.9 million
A residing legend, Geno Auriemma has guided the UConn Huskies to your jaw-dropping eleven countrywide titles. His tenure at UConn, which began in 1985, has transformed the program into Among the most dominant dynasties in college basketball background—Gentlemen's or Ladies’s.
Auriemma’s longevity and dependable functionality have ensured lucrative contract renewals. His current contract includes a foundation wage, media obligations, attire specials, and significant bonuses tied to NCAA Match operates. Even though UConn has confronted new worries 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
Soon after An effective two-decade run at Baylor, exactly where she won 3 nationwide titles, Kim Mulkey shocked the basketball globe by joining LSU in 2021. In only her 2nd period Using the Tigers, she led them to a 2023 countrywide championship, bringing a completely new stage of excitement and Highlight to Baton Rouge.
Her significant-profile arrival came having a profitable eight-12 months, $23.6 million deal, generating her among the highest-compensated Girls’s coaches ever. Noted for her passionate coaching design, flamboyant fashion, and M88 championship pedigree, Mulkey is central to LSU’s resurgence in Women of all ages's hoops.
four. Brenda Frese – College of Maryland
Approximated Annual Wage: $one.4 million
Brenda Frese has quietly built a design of consistency at Maryland considering the fact that taking up in 2002. With multiple convention championships, a countrywide title in 2006, and dozens of NCAA Match appearances, Frese has saved the Terrapins in nationwide rivalry for over 20 years.
Her lengthy-expression influence and enhancement of best-tier expertise have created her indispensable to Maryland’s athletic Office. Her present offer includes bonuses for educational performance, wins, and postseason results—illustrating her twin dedication to athletics and scholar improvement.
5. Tara VanDerveer – Stanford College
Believed Annual Salary: $1.three million
Tara VanDerveer is don't just certainly one of the very best-paid out coaches but also the winningest coach in NCAA Females's basketball heritage. She surpassed Pat Summitt’s all-time win document and has led Stanford to 3 national titles (1990, 1992, and 2021) and numerous Ultimate Four appearances.
When VanDerveer hasn't been 1 to chase flashy contracts, Stanford has ensured that her legacy and contributions are correctly compensated. Her leadership, progress of WNBA stars, and determination to excellence have solidified her place among 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 Television bargains, ticket product sales are escalating, and corporate sponsors are becoming more invested in Women of all ages's sporting activities.
The increase in coaching salaries is not only a sign of development—it’s a recognition with the labor, leadership, and success these coaches convey for their plans as well as the sport in general.
Honorable Mentions
Although these 5 coaches at this time direct the way in which in terms of earnings, quite a few Some others are increasing:
Kelly Graves (Oregon)
Vic Schaefer (Texas)
Jeff Walz (Louisville)
Courtney Banghart (North Carolina)
Every of such coaches has manufactured substantial strides with their respective courses and could crack to the top 5 in the approaching several years as Ladies's basketball carries on to develop.
Closing Ideas
The times of underfunded women’s systems and underpaid coaches are steadily fading. These elite coaches not just command significant salaries—they also mentor generations of athletes, form the society of their universities, and elevate Girls’s basketball to new heights. As the sport carries on to grow in acceptance and support, we will expect these salaries—as well as the profiles of such leaders—to carry on increasing.
Gals’s college basketball isn’t just trying to keep rate—it’s setting the pace for the future of competitive athletics.