Dawn Staley’s new contract at South Carolina takes her past the $3 million annual mark
Dawn Staley’s new contract at South Carolina makes her the highest-paid coach women’s basketball coach in the SEC and one of the top paid in the country.
Staley, one of the most successful head coaches in University of South Carolina history, received a seven-year, $22.4 million deal that averages over $3 million annually through the 2027-28 season.
The contract extension was approved Friday at a USC board of trustees meeting.
“Dawn Staley is one of the nation’s top coaches, regardless of the sport,” said South Carolina athletic director Ray Tanner in a school statement. “She has built our women’s basketball program from the ground up, and her teams have produced champions, both on and off the floor.
“The ability to keep Coach Staley at the University of South Carolina is great news for all Gamecocks. I join with our fans in looking forward to seeing the great achievements her program will continue to produce in the future.”
The deal makes Staley the highest-paid women’s basketball coach in the Southeastern Conference, surpassing LSU’s Kim Mulkey, who will make $2.505 million in her first season with the Tigers. Mulkey’s salary grows to $3.362 million in 2028-29.
Staley is among the highest-paid women’s basketball coaches in the country. UConn head coach Geno Auriemma will make $2.8 million this year after receiving a contract extension in May. His deal reaches $3.2 million in 2024-25, the contract’s final year.
Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer was last reported to make $2.28 million yearly, as of 2016 tax filings, but more recent figures are not available, as Stanford is a private school. Vic Schaefer will make $1.8 million in each of his three years at Texas, while Arizona raised head coach Adia Barnes’ salary over $1 million after the Wildcats made it to last year’s national championship game.
Staley’s new salary starts at $2.9 million for the 2021-22 season and increases to $3.5 million for the 2027-28 season, the last year of the new contract.
“It’s always been an honor to represent the University of South Carolina, and this contract represents the University’s commitment to supporting me and our women’s basketball program,” Staley said in the school statement. “Contract negotiations are challenging, but this one was especially important as I knew it could be a benchmark, an example for other universities to invest in their women’s basketball programs, too.”
Staley was slated to earn $1.8 million for the 2021-22 season in her former contract, not counting any bonuses for postseason accomplishments. That deal ran through the 2024-25 season, and her annual salary had been expected to climb to $2.1 million at that time.
After a 2018 contract amendment, South Carolina also began to contribute $300,000 annually toward a split-dollar life insurance program that, on Sept. 21, 2022, becomes Staley’s — a total of $1.5 million plus interest — with the only catch that she must still be the Gamecocks’ coach for that money to be paid out.
Staley enters this season with South Carolina after leading Team USA to a gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics, where the Americans went undefeated. A source told The State in August negotiations for Staley’s new contract had been ongoing throughout the summer, though they took a break while Staley was coaching the Olympic team.
In her 13 seasons coaching the Gamecocks, Staley led to a 2017 national championship win and three Final Four appearances, including last season’s run. Staley’s most recent contract was approved after South Carolina’s 2017 national championship. At the time, that deal made Staley the SEC’s highest-paid women’s basketball coach.
In 2020, Staley won the Naismith Coach of the Year and AP National Coach of the Year before coaching the USA women’s basketball team to the gold medal win in Tokyo. Staley has said she will likely not continue as the USA team’s coach for the next Olympics.
This story was originally published October 15, 2021 at 12:34 PM.
