Breaking down South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley's $680,000 in bonuses
Befitting her team’s NCAA championship and undefeated record, South Carolina’s Dawn Staley ended up lapping the women’s college basketball public-school coaching field when it comes to bonuses this season for team performance.
She finishes the season with $680,000 in bonuses, to go with her $3.1 million in basic annual compensation from the school. That’s the maximum she could achieve under her contract.
The agreement includes 11 steps to reach the maximum, beginning with $15,000 for winning at least 11 SEC regular season games and ending with $15,000 for the team finishing in the top 25 of either the USA TODAY Coaches poll or the Associated Press media poll. Both of the final polls were published Monday.
In between, Staley gained $100,000 for sweeping the SEC regular season and tournament titles in the same season; $500,000 for the NCAA title; and $25,000 apiece for SEC and national coach-of-the-year honors.
The next-highest bonus total belongs to NCAA runner-up Iowa’s Lisa Bluder, who will pick up $310,000, according to tracking by USA TODAY Sports based on contracts acquired through open-records requests.
Connecticut’s Geno Auriemma had the third-highest season bonus total at $262,500. The Huskies lost to Iowa in the national semifinals.
MORE: USA TODAY Sports' searchable database for women's college basketball coaches compensation
South Carolina coach Dawn Staley bonus total
$15,000: 11 SEC regular season wins
$75,000: SEC regular season title
$25,000: SEC coach of the year
$25,000: SEC tournament title in same season as regular season title
$25,000: NCAA Tournament bid
$25,000: NCAA round of 16 appearance
$50,000: NCAA round of 8 appearance
$150,000: NCAA Final Four appearance
$25,000: National coach of the year by Naismith Award and Associated Press
$250,000: Win NCAA title
$15,000: Top 25 in final USA TODAY Coaches Poll or Associated Press media poll
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dawn Staley leads women's basketball coaches with $680K in bonuses