five Highest-Compensated Females's College Basketball Coaches
five Highest-Compensated Females's College Basketball Coaches
Blog Article
Girls’s college or university basketball has viewed exponential expansion in viewership, expertise, and competitiveness over the past decade. With all the amplified popularity and commercial success from the sport, especially in NCAA Division I plans, coaching salaries have risen to replicate the worth and Management these prime-tier coaches carry to their groups and universities. As universities go on to speculate inside their Girls’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 university basketball coaches as of 2025, showcasing not only their spectacular salaries and also the achievements that justify their elite compensation.
one. Dawn Staley – University of South Carolina
Believed Annual Income: $3.one million
Dawn Staley continues to generally be the gold common in Ladies’s college or university basketball coaching. A former WNBA star and Olympic gold medalist, Staley has built South Carolina into a perennial powerhouse. Since taking up This system in 2008, she has led the Gamecocks to several NCAA Remaining Four appearances and two countrywide championships (2017 and 2022).
In 2021, she produced headlines by signing a historic seven-calendar year, $22.4 million agreement, making her the very best-paid out Black head mentor in Girls's college basketball historical past. That offer has because been restructured and prolonged with overall performance incentives, inserting her firmly at the best of this checklist.
2. Geno Auriemma – College of Connecticut
Believed Annual Income: $two.nine million
A dwelling legend, Geno Auriemma has guided the UConn Huskies to your jaw-dropping eleven national titles. His tenure at UConn, which started in 1985, has remodeled This system into one of the most dominant dynasties in university basketball heritage—Guys's or Ladies’s.
Auriemma’s longevity and reliable effectiveness have ensured beneficial contract renewals. His existing agreement includes a base wage, media obligations, attire discounts, and significant bonuses tied to NCAA Match runs. Although UConn has faced modern troubles with accidents and roster turnover, Auriemma’s legacy and leadership hold his benefit high.
three. Kim Mulkey – Louisiana Point out College (LSU)
Approximated Yearly Salary: $2.seven million
Following A prosperous two-10 years run at Baylor, exactly where she gained three national titles, Kim Mulkey stunned the basketball earth by signing up for LSU in 2021. In just her second season with the Tigers, she led them to a 2023 countrywide championship, bringing a different stage of pleasure and Highlight to Baton Rouge.
Her high-profile arrival came having a lucrative 8-year, $23.6 million agreement, earning her M88 amongst the highest-paid women’s coaches at any time. Known for her passionate coaching style, flamboyant vogue, and championship pedigree, Mulkey is central to LSU’s resurgence in Girls's hoops.
4. Brenda Frese – College of Maryland
Estimated Yearly Salary: $one.four million
Brenda Frese has quietly designed a model of regularity at Maryland considering that taking over in 2002. With many conference championships, a nationwide title in 2006, and dozens of NCAA Tournament appearances, Frese has retained the Terrapins in national competition for more than two decades.
Her very long-phrase effects and advancement of major-tier talent have designed her indispensable to Maryland’s athletic department. Her latest deal involves bonuses for tutorial efficiency, wins, and postseason success—illustrating her dual motivation to athletics and university student advancement.
five. 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 will also the winningest coach in NCAA Females's basketball background. She surpassed Pat Summitt’s all-time get file and has led Stanford to 3 national titles (1990, 1992, and 2021) and numerous Closing 4 appearances.
Although VanDerveer has never been one to chase flashy contracts, Stanford has ensured that her legacy and contributions are appropriately compensated. Her Management, growth of WNBA stars, and determination to excellence have solidified her place among the all-time greats in coaching historical past.
A Transforming Landscape in Women's Basketball
The growing salaries of these coaches are reflective in the increasing attractiveness and financial viability of girls’s college basketball. Programs are attracting much more national TV deals, ticket sales are increasing, and company sponsors have gotten far more invested in Girls's sports activities.
The rise in coaching salaries is not just an indication of progress—it’s a recognition from the hard work, Management, and accomplishment these coaches carry to their programs as well as Activity as a whole.
Honorable Mentions
Though these 5 coaches at present lead how regarding earnings, numerous Other people are rising:
Kelly Graves (Oregon)
Vic Schaefer (Texas)
Jeff Walz (Louisville)
Courtney Banghart (North Carolina)
Every single of these coaches has designed important strides with their respective applications and will break in the best 5 in the coming yrs as Females's basketball proceeds to expand.
Remaining Ideas
The times of underfunded Ladies’s courses and underpaid coaches are steadily fading. These elite coaches not merely command superior salaries—Additionally they mentor generations of athletes, condition the culture of their universities, and elevate Gals’s basketball to new heights. Because the sport proceeds to develop in level of popularity and assistance, we could expect these salaries—along with the profiles of such leaders—to carry on growing.
Gals’s college basketball isn’t just retaining speed—it’s location the pace for the future of competitive sports activities.