WBB: Staley's Contract Is a Statement

Dawn Staley’s new contract wasn’t so much an extension and raise as it was a mic drop. South Carolina announced in its press release that the contract “will make her the highest paid African-American head coach in her sport and one of the highest paid women's basketball coaches in the country.” That is either one of the most inefficient humblebrags ever or an epic case of burying the lede.

Interim president Harris Pastides was more direct.

“I don’t know if it’s the, (but) one of the highest women’s basketball coaches in terms of salary in the nation,” he said. “I hope she is. That’s what we’d like to do here.”

Staley’s $2.9 million salary this season puts her alongside UConn’s Geno Auriemma as the highest paid coach in women’s basketball.* Both have bonuses that change the exact annual compensation, but the difference between their salaries could be covered by money they find in their couch cushions.

Staley’s contract caps off a summer spending spree in the sport. The massive contract LSU offered to lure Kim Mulkey away from Baylor started things. That contract begins at $2.5 million this season, and is notable in that it is slightly more than what LSU men’s coach Will Wade makes. Mulkey’s deal reset the bar, briefly making her the highest paid coach in the sport. UConn responded with a raise so he could reclaim the top spot, while at least four other coaches signed extensions this summer worth at least $1 million annually.

The money being spent is the result of unprecedented popularity for women’s basketball. The NCAA Tournament and WNBA have had record viewership, and the United States Olympic team got prime time treatment from NBC. The popularity of women’s college basketball has come in spite of the indifference, bordering on negligence, of the NCAA, but the member schools recognize the value.

South Carolina was ahead of the trend. In 2008, then-Athletics Director Eric Hyman was criticized for offering Staley $650,000 annually to come to South Carolina. He knew he had to overpay to pry her from her hometown Temple, but he trusted Staley to build a winner. Hyman hasn’t been around for any of the contract extensions (he moved on to Texas A&M before retiring), but he’s been vindicated. South Carolina has continued to err on the side of overpaying Staley to make sure she is happy.

It was clear this summer that the market had shifted and it was time to redo Staley’s contract. Would the two sides target Mulkey as the highest-paid coach in the SEC? Would they add in bonuses like the life insurance policy added in 2018? Would it be the guarantee of an athletics department job after she is done coaching, like Auriemma has?

They went straight for the proverbial glass ceiling.

“Today she breaks through that glass ceiling of gender equity in coaches’ salaries right here at the University of South Carolina,” Pastides said when he announced the extension Friday.

To prove the point, South Carolina eagerly released the details of the contract. Usually it’s a struggle to get all the details, but Staley wants everything in the open.

“The money is staggering. It really wasn’t about the money, but it takes the money for this recognition to be something that is eye-opening and monumental,” Staley said. “As a woman you make 84 cents on the dollar, versus a man. For a black woman I think it’s in the 70s. It’s not about that. It’s finding that you are an asset to an organization. It’s understanding that asset and understanding that you bring value to it.”

The money has already stirred controversy, exactly what Staley wanted. There’s a chorus shouting from the rooftops, desperate to make sure everyone knows just how little they care.

“It’s probably popular standing here but unpopular somewhere else across our nation,” Staley said. “I hope that today we will stand here being unpopularly right, and tomorrow it’s the popular right thing to do. I’m so grateful that the University of South Carolina, we’re the ones to do it.”

There are fair criticisms of the massive contract. Staley hasn’t accomplished as much as Mulkey, Tara VanDerveer, or Auriemma. But she is also eight years younger than Mulkey, 16 years younger than Auriemma, and 17 years younger than VanDerveer. And she’s the only one that interviewed with an NBA team. The overtures from the Portland Trail Blazers this summer both intrigued Staley and convinced her South Carolina is the right place for her.

There will be extra attention now. Every regular season and tournament, if not every game, will be a referendum on the contract. “We’re raising the bar, even for you, coach,” Pastides said. Leading the nation in attendance, top-ranked recruiting classes, and Final Fours are no longer bonuses, they are expectations. If that is the price to pay, Staley is fine with the attention. She’s never lacked confidence.

Just to be safe, South Carolina made sure there will be no more NBA teams trying to poach Staley: the contract protects South Carolina’s investment. The deal runs for seven years, through 2027-28. Staley’s buyout if she wants to leave is a prohibitive $5 million in the first year, decreasing by $500,000 each year.

“This is a place I’ve called home, I’m really comfortable with being here. I’m confident this contract extension keeps me here, it’s fair to say, for a very long time. I don’t know when my career will end, but I want this to be my last stop.”

* - Compensation for Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer is unknown. Based on tax returns it was believed to be about $2.3 million in 2016, putting her in the range of highest-paid coaches.

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