Gals’s college basketball has witnessed exponential expansion in viewership, expertise, and competitiveness in the last ten years. With all the greater attractiveness and professional success of the Activity, specifically in NCAA Division I courses, coaching salaries have risen to replicate the worth and leadership these leading-tier coaches deliver to their groups and universities. As universities continue on to take a position within their Ladies’s athletics departments, a couple of standout coaches are reaping the monetary benefits that come with creating powerhouse applications.

Here’s a think about the five highest-compensated 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 – College of South Carolina
Estimated Once-a-year Salary: $three.1 million

Dawn Staley proceeds to get the gold regular in Women of all ages’s faculty basketball coaching. A former WNBA star and Olympic gold medalist, Staley has crafted 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 countrywide championships (2017 and 2022).

In 2021, she created headlines by signing a historic seven-12 months, $22.4 million agreement, creating her the best-paid Black head coach in Gals's higher education basketball record. That deal has due to the fact been restructured and extended with effectiveness incentives, placing her firmly at the highest of the record.

2. Geno Auriemma – University of Connecticut
Approximated Once-a-year Income: $2.9 million

A living legend, Geno Auriemma has guided the UConn Huskies to your jaw-dropping eleven countrywide titles. His tenure at UConn, which began in 1985, has transformed the program into One of the more dominant dynasties in school basketball historical past—Adult males's or women’s.

Auriemma’s longevity and steady effectiveness have ensured lucrative contract renewals. His existing agreement includes a base salary, media obligations, attire bargains, 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 retain his price significant.

three. Kim Mulkey – Louisiana Condition University (LSU)
Estimated Annual Salary: $two.seven million

Immediately after A prosperous two-10 years run at Baylor, in which she won three countrywide titles, Kim Mulkey stunned the basketball earth by becoming a member of LSU in 2021. In just her second time with the Tigers, she led them to the 2023 countrywide championship, bringing a whole new degree of excitement and Highlight to Baton Rouge.

Her significant-profile arrival arrived using a rewarding eight-12 months, $23.6 million deal, building her one among the very best-compensated Gals’s coaches ever. Known for her passionate coaching design and style, flamboyant trend, and championship pedigree, Mulkey is central to LSU’s resurgence in Females's hoops.

four. Brenda Frese – University of Maryland
Believed Yearly Income: $one.4 million

Brenda Frese has quietly crafted a design of consistency at Maryland considering the fact that taking up in 2002. With multiple convention championships, a national title in 2006, and dozens of NCAA Match appearances, Frese has kept the Terrapins in nationwide contention for more than two decades.

Her prolonged-term impression and improvement of major-tier talent have built her indispensable to Maryland’s athletic Division. Her present-day deal incorporates bonuses for academic functionality, wins, and postseason achievement—illustrating her dual determination to athletics and pupil enhancement.

5. Tara VanDerveer – Stanford University
Approximated Once-a-year Salary: $1.3 million

Tara VanDerveer is not simply certainly one M88 of the very best-compensated coaches but also the winningest coach in NCAA Girls's basketball record. She surpassed Pat Summitt’s all-time get file and it has led Stanford to 3 countrywide titles (1990, 1992, and 2021) and numerous Last Four 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 Modifying Landscape in Girls's Basketball
The raising salaries of such coaches are reflective of your growing recognition 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 progress—it’s a recognition of your effort, leadership, and good results these coaches deliver for their courses plus the sport as a whole.

Honorable Mentions
Though these 5 coaches presently lead how regarding earnings, numerous Other individuals are on the rise:

Kelly Graves (Oregon)

Vic Schaefer (Texas)

Jeff Walz (Louisville)

Courtney Banghart (North Carolina)

Each individual of those coaches has made sizeable strides with their respective courses and will break in the best 5 in the coming decades as Girls's basketball continues to increase.

Final Feelings
The days of underfunded Girls’s applications and underpaid coaches are steadily fading. These elite coaches not simply command higher salaries—In addition they mentor generations of athletes, shape the lifestyle in their universities, and elevate Ladies’s basketball to new heights. Given that the sport carries on to mature in acceptance and aid, we will hope these salaries—as well as the profiles of those leaders—to carry on increasing.

Girls’s college basketball isn’t just trying to keep rate—it’s location the pace for the future of competitive athletics.