Women’s college basketball has a new member of the million-dollar club.
On Thursday, Minnesota inked head coach Dawn Plitzuweit to an extension through 2032 after it was approved by the university’s board of regents. A person with direct knowledge of her contract told USA TODAY Sports the reworked deal raised Plitzuweit’s annual base salary to $1.1 million.
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Plitzuweit made $900,000 last season, meaning she got a bump of $200,000 with her extension. Her contract also includes annual escalators of $30,000. That will put her base salary in the 2031-32 season at $1.25 million.
The buyout for Plitzuweit is on a sliding scale. If Minnesota were to fire Plitzuweit before April 13, 2029, the Gophers would owe her the full remainder of her contract. That figure drops to 75% of her deal before April 13, 2030, then 50% of her contract before April 13, 2032.
If Plitzuweit leaves Minnesota to accept another position coaching basketball — in college or the pros — before April 13, 2028, she would owe the school her full remaining base salary. If she does that between April 14, 2028 and April 13, 2032, she would owe Minnesota half of her remaining contract.
Minnesota is coming off one of its best women’s basketball seasons in program history. In their third season under Plitzuweit, the Gophers won 13 games in the Big Ten, tying a single-season program record. Minnesota was a top-16 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005 and advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since then too.
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Led by a core of five players who each averaged double figures in scoring, the Gophers ranked in the top 20 nationally in offensive rating, defensive rating, 3-point shooting percentage (35.6) and defensive rebound rate (75.1). Minnesota finished the year ranked 15th in the national polls, its highest since the 2018-19 season. The Gophers had signature victories over USC, Iowa, Ohio State and Ole Miss.
Plitzuweit, 53, has been a Division I head coach since 2012 when she got the job at Northern Kentucky after a five-year stint as an assistant at Michigan. After four consecutive winning seasons with NKU, the Wisconsin native landed the South Dakota job and turned the Coyotes into a mid-major power, winning 81.4% of her games in six seasons, capturing four conference championships and going to three NCAA Tournaments. In 2022, South Dakota upset Baylor to make the Sweet 16 for the first time ever.
West Virginia was Plitzuweit’s next stop, but she remained there just one season, jumping to Minnesota after the Mountaineers fell in the first round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament. Last season, Minnesota missed March Madness, but won the second-tier WBIT championship. Combined with her time leading Division II Grand Valley State, Plitzuweit has a career record of 434-176 as a head coach.
South Carolina’s Dawn Staley is the highest-paid coach in women’s college basketball, making $4.25 million this past season with the Gamecocks. Clocking in behind her are UConn’s Geno Auriemma ($3.79 million), LSU’s Kim Mulkey ($3.35 million), Vic Schaefer of Texas ($2.3 million), and 2006 national title winner Brenda Frese at more than $2 million at Maryland.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Minnesota women’s basketball coach Dawn Plitzuweit signs $1.1M extension
