On Friday, the University of South Carolina announced that women’s basketball head coach Dawn Staley signed a 7-year contract worth $22.4 million. The contact will take her through the 2027-28 season.
The contract makes Staley the highest-paid Black head coach in her sport. She is now also one of the highest-paid women’s basketball coaches in the country.
According to school officials, Staley’s salary will be $1 million per year, with outside compensation starting at $1.9 million the first year and rising by $100,000 each season.
“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.”
In 13 seasons with the Gamecocks, she has led the team to three NCAA Final Fours and won the 2017 NCAA Championship. Staley was chosen as National Coach of the Year in 2020. That same year, she led the school to a number one ranking before the playoffs were cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Dawn Staley is one of the nation’s top coaches, regardless of the sport,” said Ray Tanner, the South Carolina Athletics Director. “She has built our women’s basketball program from the ground up, and her teams have produced champions, both on and off the floor.”
Staley also won a gold medal as coach of the Women’s National Team in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She has been named the head coach of the U.S. Women’s National team from 2017 to 2021.
The women’s basketball season kicks off November 1, with the Gamecocks’ season opener scheduled for November 9 against North Carolina State.
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