Not only is Dawn Staley now the highest paid coach in women’s basketball, she negotiated something else that rivals Geno Auriemma and Kim Mulkey don’t have: a free path to the pros.
The University of South Carolina announced a contract extension with Staley on Friday that will keep the three-time NCAA champion in Columbia through the 2029-30 season. Staley will receive $25.25 million over five years, including a $500,000 signing bonus—or roughly $4.8 million per year, according to a term sheet released by the school. Staley previously made $3.1 million annually, according to USA Today’s database, the same as Connecticut’s Auriemma and just less than LSU’s Mulkey, who earns $3.26 million.
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If Staley leaves USC before the end of the deal, she would be required to pay the school a departure fee equivalent to the compensation remaining on the contract. However, thanks to a new wrinkle in the agreement, that penalty wouldn’t apply if she departs for a head coach or assistant gig in the NBA or the WNBA.
It’s unclear why the change was made. Since that last deal was inked, WNBA coaching salaries have eclipsed $1 million for the first time. A number of prominent collegiate coaches across basketball and football have also moved on in recent years as new transfer and athlete pay rules create additional challenges.
The four-time Naismith Coach of the Year winner previously spoke with the Portland Trail Blazers about a potential head coaching job in 2021. She later said that the Washington Wizards reached out shortly thereafter to gauge her interest as well.
“Portland was pretty serious about it, and then everybody else—I don’t think it was that serious,” she told Vanity Fair in 2023.
Her previous deal, which was announced in the fall of 2021 and was set to run from 2021 to 2028, would have required a buy-out between $2 and $5 million if she left for any reason.
It’s becoming more common for prominent college coaches to have two buyouts—one for going to another NCAA program, and one for going pro. UConn men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley, who was in talks to take the Los Angeles Lakers job last year, signed a new deal in July that made a similar distinction. If Hurley left today for the NBA, he’d owe the school $2 million. If he left for another Division I coaching job he’d owe $6 million.
Auriemma’s deal is the opposite. Hurley’s UConn colleague signed a new contract in May that carries identical buyouts if he were to leave for another DI program or “any men’s or women’s professional basketball league.” If Auriemma left the school today, he would owe $5 million. Mulkey’s LSU deal carries a $2 million buyout if she leaves for any other job.
Staley’s new deal includes several performance-tied incentives. Each NCAA title comes with a $500,000 bonus. The agreement also includes use of a suite and 14 additional tickets for each home Gamecocks women’s basketball games, as well as seats at football and men’s basketball events.
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