Swish: Big 12 Women's Basketball Coaches Earning Higher Salaries

Mulkey One Of Two Women Coaches In Big 12 To Earn At Least $1M Annually

Seven Big 12 women's basketball coaches received new contracts this off-season, and for the first time, two coaches -- Baylor's Kim Mulkey and Texas' Gail Goestenkors -- will earn at least $1M per season, according to Brian Davis of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS. Mulkey was paid in part "as a reward" for winning the '05 NCAA Championship, while Goestenkors, who left Duke after the '07 season, "is being paid to ignite the UT program," including a return to the NCAA tournament. Univ. of Oklahoma coach and Women's Basketball Coaches Association President Sherri Coale said, "There is more emphasis on winning now more than ever before. I've spoken about how that's directly tied to the financial commitment universities make to coaches, to programs and to the budget itself. ... When you have 10,000 people at games and you have millions viewing via a TV audience, it does become about winning." Davis noted Coale received a $250,000 raise this offseason, and Kansas Univ. coach Bonnie Henrickson also got a "dramatic raise" to $635,000 this season despite not taking the team to the tournament.  KU AD Lew Perkins said he wanted to "send the message that women's basketball is important to us at Kansas." Texas Tech Univ. coach Kristy Curry has an escalator in her deal that will net her $600,000 by her fifth season, and Iowa State Univ. gave coach Bill Fennelly a 12-year contract that "essentially amounts to a lifetime deal," including up to $3.6M in incentives over the length of the contract (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 11/8).