5 Highest-Compensated Gals's College Basketball Coaches
5 Highest-Compensated Gals's College Basketball Coaches
Blog Article
Gals’s college basketball has witnessed exponential expansion in viewership, expertise, and competitiveness in the last 10 years. With the elevated recognition and commercial achievement of the Activity, specifically in NCAA Division I courses, coaching salaries have risen to replicate the value and leadership these top-tier coaches convey for their teams and universities. As universities proceed to invest of their Gals’s athletics departments, some standout coaches are reaping the fiscal rewards that include constructing powerhouse plans.
Right here’s a think about the five best-paid Girls’s higher education basketball coaches as of 2025, showcasing not just their impressive 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 being the gold normal in women’s faculty basketball coaching. A former WNBA star and Olympic gold medalist, Staley has designed South Carolina into a perennial powerhouse. Due to the fact taking over This system in 2008, she has led the Gamecocks to multiple NCAA Closing 4 appearances and two national championships (2017 and 2022).
In 2021, she built headlines by signing a historic 7-12 months, $22.four million contract, generating her the best-paid Black head coach in Women of all ages's university basketball history. That offer has due to the fact been restructured and prolonged with effectiveness incentives, placing her firmly at the highest of this listing.
two. Geno Auriemma – University of Connecticut
Estimated Yearly Income: $2.9 million
A residing legend, Geno Auriemma has guided the UConn Huskies to your jaw-dropping eleven national titles. His tenure at UConn, which began in 1985, has transformed This system into The most dominant dynasties in college or university basketball background—Gentlemen's or Gals’s.
Auriemma’s longevity and consistent efficiency have ensured worthwhile deal renewals. His present-day deal features a foundation income, media obligations, clothing promotions, and significant bonuses tied to NCAA Event operates. When UConn has confronted new worries with accidents and roster turnover, Auriemma’s legacy and Management retain his price significant.
three. Kim Mulkey – Louisiana Condition University (LSU)
Approximated Annual Income: $2.7 million
After a successful two-ten years operate at Baylor, the place she gained three national titles, Kim Mulkey stunned the basketball environment by becoming a member of LSU in 2021. In just her second season with the Tigers, she led them to the 2023 nationwide championship, bringing a whole new degree of excitement and Highlight to Baton Rouge.
Her substantial-profile arrival came with a valuable eight-yr, $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 kept the Terrapins in nationwide rivalry for over twenty years.
Her prolonged-term affect and improvement of top rated-tier talent have manufactured her indispensable to Maryland’s athletic department. Her recent offer contains bonuses for tutorial functionality, wins, and postseason achievements—illustrating her dual motivation to athletics and student growth.
five. Tara VanDerveer – Stanford College
Estimated Annual Wage: $one.three million
Tara VanDerveer is not only one among the best-paid coaches but in addition the winningest mentor in NCAA Women of all ages's basketball background. She surpassed Pat Summitt’s all-time earn history and it has led Stanford to three M88 national titles (1990, 1992, and 2021) and numerous Ultimate 4 appearances.
When VanDerveer hasn't been 1 to chase flashy contracts, Stanford has ensured that her legacy and contributions are properly compensated. Her leadership, growth 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 growing recognition and economic viability of ladies’s university basketball. Packages are attracting far more nationwide Television bargains, ticket product sales 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 the effort, Management, and results these coaches provide to their programs and the Activity in general.
Honorable Mentions
Although these 5 coaches at this time direct the way concerning earnings, various Other folks are on the rise:
Kelly Graves (Oregon)
Vic Schaefer (Texas)
Jeff Walz (Louisville)
Courtney Banghart (North Carolina)
Each of those coaches has created significant strides with their respective systems and could crack to the top five in the approaching several years as Ladies's basketball proceeds to increase.
Final Feelings
The days of underfunded Women of all ages’s packages and underpaid coaches are steadily fading. These elite coaches not just command superior salaries—they also mentor generations of athletes, form the society of their universities, and elevate Women of all ages’s basketball to new heights. As being the sport carries on to mature in acceptance and support, we will hope 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.