5 Highest-Paid Ladies's College or university Basketball Coaches
5 Highest-Paid Ladies's College or university Basketball Coaches
Blog Article
Females’s college basketball has witnessed exponential expansion in viewership, expertise, and competitiveness in the last 10 years. Using the enhanced level of popularity and business results with the Activity, particularly in NCAA Division I packages, coaching salaries have risen to mirror the value and Management these top rated-tier coaches provide to their teams and universities. As universities continue to speculate inside their Girls’s athletics departments, a number of standout coaches are reaping the economic rewards that include constructing powerhouse programs.
Right here’s a consider the five highest-compensated Females’s university basketball coaches as of 2025, showcasing not only their impressive salaries but will also the achievements that justify their elite compensation.
1. Dawn Staley – University of South Carolina
Believed Yearly Income: $3.one million
Dawn Staley carries on to become the gold standard in Gals’s higher education basketball coaching. A former WNBA star and Olympic gold medalist, Staley has designed South Carolina into a perennial powerhouse. Considering the fact that taking up This system in 2008, she has led the Gamecocks to several NCAA Remaining Four appearances and two nationwide 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-compensated Black head coach in Girls's school basketball heritage. That offer has given that been restructured and prolonged with efficiency incentives, positioning her firmly at the top of this listing.
two. Geno Auriemma – University of Connecticut
Estimated Yearly Income: $two.nine million
A living legend, Geno Auriemma has guided the UConn Huskies to the jaw-dropping 11 nationwide titles. His tenure at UConn, which began in 1985, has transformed This system into one of the most dominant dynasties in higher education basketball record—Males's or Females’s.
Auriemma’s longevity and constant general performance have ensured profitable contract renewals. His recent agreement features 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 retain his price significant.
three. Kim Mulkey – Louisiana Condition University (LSU)
Estimated Annual Income: $two.seven million
Soon after An effective two-10 years run at Baylor, exactly where she won 3 nationwide titles, Kim Mulkey shocked the basketball planet by joining LSU in 2021. In only her next year Together with the Tigers, she led them into a 2023 national championship, bringing a brand new level of pleasure and spotlight to Baton Rouge.
Her higher-profile arrival arrived that has a beneficial 8-year, $23.six million contract, making her amongst the best-paid out 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 women's hoops.
4. Brenda Frese – College of Maryland
Estimated Yearly 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 nationwide rivalry for over M88 twenty years.
Her extended-time period affect and improvement of major-tier talent have designed her indispensable to Maryland’s athletic Division. Her latest deal involves bonuses for tutorial functionality, wins, and postseason success—illustrating her dual motivation to athletics and student growth.
five. Tara VanDerveer – Stanford University
Estimated Yearly Wage: $one.three million
Tara VanDerveer is not just considered one of the best-paid coaches but in addition the winningest mentor in NCAA women's basketball background. 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 leadership, growth of WNBA stars, and determination to excellence have solidified her location One of the all-time greats in coaching historical past.
A Transforming Landscape in Women of all ages's Basketball
The increasing salaries of these coaches are reflective from the expanding reputation and monetary viability of ladies’s university basketball. Packages are attracting additional nationwide Television bargains, ticket income are expanding, and company sponsors have gotten extra invested in Women of all ages's athletics.
The rise in coaching salaries is not only a sign of development—it’s a recognition on the labor, leadership, and success these coaches convey for their plans as well as the sport in general.
Honorable Mentions
Although these five coaches now 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 created substantial strides with their respective courses and could crack to the prime five in the approaching a long time as women's basketball carries on to grow.
Closing Ideas
The times of underfunded Ladies’s systems and underpaid coaches are steadily fading. These elite coaches not just command superior salaries—Additionally they 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 easily count on these salaries—as well as profiles of these leaders—to continue mounting.
Ladies’s faculty basketball isn’t just keeping tempo—it’s placing the speed for the way forward for aggressive sports.