Coach Dawn Staley has received a contract extension that South Carolina said will make her the highest paid college women’s basketball coach of all-time at a total value of about $25 million.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCSC) - Dawn Staley won’t be leaving Columbia anytime soon. The Gamecocks women’s basketball coach signed a record setting extension on Friday morning that will keep her signed with the school through the 2029-30 season and make her the highest paid coach in the history of the sport.

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley has been given a new contract that made her the highest paid coach in the history of women's college basketball.

Staley has not been publicly connected to any WNBA head coaching jobs. In NBA history, no woman has ever served as a full-time head coach. Lisa Boyer, a current USC assistant coach, was the first woman to hold any sort of coaching position in the NBA, assisting the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2001-02.

The University of South Carolina Board of Trustees approved today a contract extension for women’s basketball head coach Dawn Staley that will go through the 2029-30 season and make her the highest paid college women’s basketball coach in the history of the sport.

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

Dawn Staley has etched her name into the history books after agreeing to a contract extension with South Carolina that makes her the highest-paid coach in women's college basketball history