5 Best-Paid out Females's Faculty Basketball Coaches
5 Best-Paid out Females's Faculty Basketball Coaches
Blog Article
Ladies’s school basketball has viewed exponential advancement in viewership, expertise, and competitiveness in the last ten years. Together with the greater popularity and commercial success of the Activity, specifically in NCAA Division I programs, coaching salaries have risen to replicate the worth and leadership these best-tier coaches carry to their groups and universities. As universities go on to take a position inside their Females’s athletics departments, several standout coaches are reaping the monetary benefits that include creating powerhouse applications.
Here’s a think about the five highest-compensated Girls’s higher education basketball coaches as of 2025, showcasing not simply their impressive salaries but also the achievements that justify their elite payment.
1. Dawn Staley – College of South Carolina
Estimated 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 developed South Carolina right into a perennial powerhouse. Considering that taking on the program in 2008, she has led the Gamecocks to various NCAA Ultimate 4 appearances and two national championships (2017 and 2022).
In 2021, she designed headlines by signing a historic 7-yr, $22.four million contract, generating her the highest-paid Black head mentor in women's higher education basketball history. That deal has due to the fact been restructured and extended with general performance incentives, placing her firmly at the highest of the record.
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 11 countrywide titles. His tenure at UConn, which commenced in 1985, has transformed the program into Among the most dominant dynasties in college basketball background—Adult men's or women’s.
Auriemma’s longevity and constant functionality have ensured valuable contract renewals. His present contract includes a base salary, media obligations, apparel 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 hold his price substantial.
three. Kim Mulkey – Louisiana Condition University (LSU)
Estimated Once-a-year Income: $two.7 million
Soon after An effective two-decade run at Baylor, where she won a few nationwide titles, Kim Mulkey shocked the basketball planet M88 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 large-profile arrival came which has a beneficial 8-year, $23.six million agreement, creating her certainly one of the best-paid out Ladies’s coaches at any time. Recognized for her passionate coaching fashion, flamboyant manner, and championship pedigree, Mulkey is central to LSU’s resurgence in Gals's hoops.
4. Brenda Frese – College of Maryland
Estimated Once-a-year Salary: $one.4 million
Brenda Frese has quietly crafted 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 countrywide competition for over twenty years.
Her prolonged-term impression and improvement of major-tier talent have designed her indispensable to Maryland’s athletic Division. Her latest deal incorporates bonuses for academic functionality, wins, and postseason achievement—illustrating her dual determination to athletics and pupil progress.
five. Tara VanDerveer – Stanford University
Approximated Yearly Income: $one.3 million
Tara VanDerveer is not merely amongst the highest-paid coaches and also the winningest mentor in NCAA women's basketball historical past. She surpassed Pat Summitt’s all-time earn history and has led Stanford to three national titles (1990, 1992, and 2021) and diverse Closing 4 appearances.
Though VanDerveer has never been a single 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 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 economic viability of ladies’s higher education basketball. Packages are attracting additional nationwide Television bargains, ticket income are rising, and corporate sponsors are becoming much more invested in women's sports.
The increase in coaching salaries is not simply a sign of development—it’s a recognition of your exertions, leadership, and achievement these coaches bring for their systems along with the sport in general.
Honorable Mentions
When these five coaches presently guide how with regards to earnings, a number of others are on the rise:
Kelly Graves (Oregon)
Vic Schaefer (Texas)
Jeff Walz (Louisville)
Courtney Banghart (North Carolina)
Just about every of those coaches has produced sizeable strides with their respective packages and could split into the top rated five in the approaching many years as Women of all ages's basketball carries on to grow.
Closing Thoughts
The times of underfunded women’s systems and underpaid coaches are steadily fading. These elite coaches not just command superior salaries—they also mentor generations of athletes, condition the culture of their universities, and elevate Women of all ages’s basketball to new heights. Since the Activity continues to expand in popularity and assist, we can count on these salaries—as well as 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.