How Dawn Staley fought for equal pay as South Carolina women's basketball coach — and won
COLUMBIA — South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley was tired of making less money than her male counterpart despite better results on the court.
The 2021 National Coach of the Year signed a historic $22.4 million contract last season that made her the highest paid women's basketball coach in the SEC, but she had to fight for the deal she believed she deserved.
"I said I'm going to risk it all. I'm going to ask for equal pay," Staley said on the Jemele Hill is Unbothered podcast. "Our success was not the same. (The men's basketball coach) went to the Final Four once. I was like, there is something seriously wrong here."
Staley was inspired to push for pay equity after disparities between the men's and women's NCAA basketball tournaments came to light through social media in 2021.
She said she compared the salaries between herself and former men's basketball coach Frank Martin and noticed that Martin was making more than she was annually in raises.
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"I was the first coach to write a letter (to the NCAA)," Staley said. "Then I went home after the tournament and I'm like, 'I'm out here on the national level asking for equality for women's basketball, and I come back to South Carolina and I'm not even getting that here.' "
According to the 2020-21 Equity in Athletics Data Analysis report — which comprises data from before Staley signed her deal — men's coaches at South Carolina made an average of $674,279 annually, while women's coaches averaged $325,706. The disparity was even more significant for assistant coaches: Men's assistants made an average of $231,393, and women's assistants made just $85,437.
Under her new contract, Staley made $2.9 million in 2021-22. That will increase by $100,000 each year to reach $3.5 million by the end of the seven-year agreement. When Martin was fired by South Carolina after the 2021 season, he was making $3.2 million per year. New coach Lamont Paris signed a five-year contract that will pay $2.2 million in his first season.
To handle negotiations, Staley brought in South Carolina lawyer Butch Bowers, who also handled her 2018 defamation lawsuit against former Missouri athletic director Jim Sterk. That case was settled for $50,000.
"I asked my agent to stand down, I said because I don't really think you can really do what I'm going to ask for," Staley said. "I hired (Bowers) ... and he was all on board. He was like, 'You're the best coach in the country but you're certainly the best coach here at South Carolina, so I believe in this.' You have to find one of them that really understands the workings of who makes these decisions."
For Staley, the $22.4 million contract had nothing to do with the money — she still was making a $1 million base salary on her previous contract. She wanted the deal to be a statement for investment in women's sports.
"People will say, well you're a non-revenue producing sport. No we're not," Staley said. "We have the highest attendance in the country. We have national attendance records for the past nine years in a row. Somebody is paying for those tickets ... that's revenue-producing. We're winning national championships, so you're getting a marketing campaign free of charge."
Contact Emily Adams at eaadams@gannett.com or on Twitter @eaadams6.
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: How South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley got equal pay
