South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley's contract allows here to leave for WNBA, NBA jobs. Why she says she won't.

Dawn Staley became the highest-paid coach in women’s basketball when she signed a new contract with South Carolina on Friday. The extension bumped her pay from $3.2 million to $4 million this year and will see her annual compensation rise to $5.25 million at the end of the contract in 2029-2030.

Dawn Staley says a clause in her new contract means nothing about how long she’ll be at South Carolina. Following Sunday’s win over Oklahoma, Staley addressed a section of her extension that she signed to end last week.

After defeating two ranked opponents last week, South Carolina women's basketball remains No. 2 in the AP Top poll and in the USA TODAY Coaches poll. The Gamecocks (18-1, 6-0 SEC) beat then No.

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.

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