5 Highest-Compensated Females's College or university Basketball Coaches
5 Highest-Compensated Females's College or university Basketball Coaches
Blog Article
Females’s college basketball has observed exponential expansion in viewership, expertise, and competitiveness in the last 10 years. With all the greater attractiveness and professional success from the sport, 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 speculate of their Women of all ages’s athletics departments, a handful of standout coaches are reaping the economical benefits that come with developing powerhouse programs.
In this article’s a consider the five best-compensated Girls’s university basketball coaches as of 2025, showcasing not only their spectacular 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 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 over the program in 2008, she has led the Gamecocks to various NCAA Ultimate 4 appearances and two nationwide championships (2017 and 2022).
In 2021, she produced headlines by signing a historic seven-year, $22.4 million deal, producing her the best-paid Black head coach in women's faculty basketball background. That offer has since been restructured and extended with performance incentives, putting her firmly at the best of the list.
2. Geno Auriemma – University of Connecticut
Believed Annual Income: $2.9 million
A residing legend, Geno Auriemma has guided the UConn Huskies to the jaw-dropping 11 national titles. His tenure at UConn, which started in 1985, has remodeled This system into The most dominant dynasties in university basketball record—Males's or Girls’s.
Auriemma’s longevity and dependable overall performance have ensured worthwhile agreement renewals. His latest deal features a foundation income, media obligations, clothing promotions, and significant bonuses tied to NCAA Event operates. Though UConn has confronted the latest challenges with injuries and roster turnover, Auriemma’s legacy and Management keep his value high.
3. Kim Mulkey – Louisiana Point out College (LSU)
Believed Yearly Wage: $2.seven million
After A prosperous two-ten years operate at Baylor, the place she gained three national titles, Kim Mulkey stunned the basketball planet by joining LSU in 2021. In only her next period Together with the Tigers, she led them to the 2023 countrywide championship, bringing a completely new stage of excitement and spotlight to Baton Rouge.
Her superior-profile arrival arrived by using a rewarding 8-calendar year, $23.6 million contract, building her considered one of the very best-paid Gals’s coaches ever. Known for her passionate coaching model, flamboyant trend, 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 developed a model of consistency at Maryland because taking on in 2002. With several meeting championships, a nationwide title in 2006, and dozens of NCAA Event appearances, Frese has held the Terrapins in countrywide competition for over two decades.
Her very long-term impression and advancement of major-tier talent have built her indispensable to Maryland’s athletic Division. Her present-day deal incorporates bonuses for academic effectiveness, wins, and postseason achievement—illustrating her twin determination to athletics and pupil progress.
five. Tara VanDerveer – Stanford University
Approximated Yearly Income: $1.3 million
Tara VanDerveer is not merely amongst the highest-paid out coaches and also the winningest mentor in NCAA Ladies's basketball historical past. She surpassed Pat Summitt’s all-time earn record and has led Stanford to three nationwide titles (1990, 1992, and 2021) and diverse Closing 4 appearances.
While 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 your growing recognition and monetary viability of ladies’s university basketball. Packages are attracting far more nationwide Television bargains, ticket product sales are escalating, and corporate sponsors are becoming more invested in women's sporting activities.
The increase in coaching salaries is not only a sign of development—it’s a recognition with the labor, leadership, and achievement these coaches bring for their packages as well as the sport in general.
Honorable Mentions
Even though these five coaches now direct 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 manufactured considerable strides with their respective programs and will crack in to the major five in the approaching a long time as women's basketball carries on to grow.
Closing Thoughts
The times of underfunded women’s packages and underpaid coaches are steadily fading. These elite coaches not just command significant salaries—they M88 also mentor generations of athletes, form the culture of their universities, and elevate Gals’s basketball to new heights. Because the Activity proceeds to develop in attractiveness and help, we can easily anticipate these salaries—plus the profiles of these leaders—to continue mounting.
Women’s higher education basketball isn’t just holding pace—it’s environment the speed for the way forward for aggressive sports.