5 highest-paid women's college basketball coaches in 2024-25 season ft. Kim Mulkey
The top coaches in women's college basketball are seeing substantial salary increases. Geno Auriemma of UConn negotiated an extension in this offseason and jumped slightly in the rankings. The sport's top three coaches are already nearing double the salary of the fifth-ranked coach. Here's the rundown on the top five salaries among women's college basketball coaches.
5 highest-paid women's college basketball coaches in 2024-25
5. Brenda Frese, Maryland ($1.88 million)
Frese is a fixture at Maryland, where she's been the coach since 2002. The 2006 NCAA title cemented her status as a Terrapin legend. A four-time Big Ten Coach of the Year and two-time AP National Coach of the Year, Frese is a star.
Her Maryland team struggled to a 19-14 mark last year, their first double-digit loss season since 2009-10. Still, Frese is a coaching star and is paid accordingly.
4. Vic Schaefer, Texas ($2.3 million)
Schaefer, who himself graduated from Texas A&M, ended up with the Longhorns via Mississippi State.
Schaefer took Mississippi State to the Final Four twice. He has reached the Elite Eight in three of his first four seasons at Texas, meaning he has been in six of the last seven Elite Eights. There's a big gap between Schaefer and the big three coaches ahead of him, but he's elite.
3. Dawn Staley, South Carolina ($3.2 million)
The college basketball game-changer, Staley, took South Carolina from a program with a relatively meager history to making the Final Four in six of the last 10 years, with three national titles in that run.
Staley's third national title last year was also her first perfect season. In the last five seasons, her team has lost a total of nine games. Her $100,000 contract increase leaves her a very close third in salary.
2. Geno Auriemma, UConn ($3.33 million)
Auriemma inked a new five-year extension that jumped him from a second-place tie with Staley into second on salary. Now 70 years old, Auriemma is probably on the back end of a career with 11 national titles and 23 Final Four appearances.
Bear in mind, UConn had never been to a Final Four before he took them there in 1991. He's the greatest women's coach ever – and the second-highest paid.
1. Kim Mulkey, LSU ($3.36 million)
A lightning rod for controversy, Mulkey has won four national titles, three at Baylor, and the last in 2023 with the Tigers.
A three-time AP National Coach of the Year, Mulkey put Baylor on the map and moved to LSU in 2021. Last year's 31-6 LSU team ended up in the Elite Eight. A $100,000 annual salary increase in Mulkey's contract keeps her a few thousand dollars ahead on the salary rankings.
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