Beloved basketball savant Dawn Staley has just become the highest paid Black coach in women’s college basketball.
The University of South Carolina Gamecocks coach signed a 7-year contract worth $22.4 million. This includes a base salary of $1 million per year, with outside compensation starting at $1.9 million the first year and rising by $100,000 each season, according to ESPN.
This also makes Staley one of the highest-paid coaches in the sport on par with Geno Auriemma, the head coach of the dynastic Connecticut Huskies.
“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 a 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.”
Under Staley’s charge, the Gamecocks have been to three NCAA Final Fours and won the 2017 NCAA Championship in 13 years. She was also named National Coach of the Year in 2020. That same year, the Gamecocks were ranked No.. 1 before the playoffs were shut down due to the pandemic.
Staley also guided the Women’s National Team to a gold medal the 2021 Tokyo Olympics in August.
“Dawn Staley is one of the nation’s top coaches, regardless of the sport,” said Ray Tanner, the South Carolina Athletics Director, said in a 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.”
