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Tuesday, September 23, 2025

Who Is the Highest-Paid Men’s College Basketball Coach?

  • The Big Ten and SEC take up a combined 18 of the 25 spots among highest-paid coaches.
  • Twelve coaches earn at least $5 million a year.
Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

As one of just nine coaches in men’s college basketball history with 700-plus wins and multiple national championships, Kansas coach Bill Self (above) is in the upper echelons of the sport’s elite.

Now, he has a salary to match.

Kansas amended Self’s lifetime contract with the school to be a five-year rolling contract—with the first iteration of it paying him a reported $53 million over five years.

When he won his second national title in 2022, the 60-year-old was making $10.2 million, but due to the contract structure, his pay dropped to $8.8 million.

With the new deal, Self reclaims the title of the nation’s highest-paid men’s college basketball coach after Arkansas’ John Calipari briefly supplanted him. 

Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, Auburn’s Bruce Pearl, and Tennessee’s Rick Barnes round out the top five, all making over $6 million a season. 

Highest-paid College basketball Coaches of 2025

Here are the top 25 highest-paid coaches in men’s college basketball, using data from USA Today based on the 2024-25 season but taking into account coaching changes, compensation data, and the latest information.

  • Updated: March 20th, 2025
  • Will be updated again: May 2025
RankCoachSchoolTotal PayConf.
1Bill SelfKansas$8,803,800Big 12
2John CalipariArkansas$8,000,000SEC
3Dan HurleyUConn$7,775,000Big East
4Tom IzzoMichigan St$6,196,879Big Ten
5Mick CroninUCLA$6,100,000Big Ten
6Bruce PearlAuburn$5,958,852SEC
7Rick BarnesTennessee$5,800,000SEC
8Scott DrewBaylor$5,410,061Big 12
9Tommy LloydArizona$5,250,000Big 12
10Nate OatsAlabama$5,018,045SEC
T-11Mark PopeKentucky$5,000,000SEC
T-11Chris BeardOle Miss$5,000,000SEC
13Matt PainterPurdue$4,850,000Big Ten
14Brad UnderwoodIllinois$4,800,000Big Ten
15Fred HoibergNebraska$4,750,000Big Ten
16Kelvin SampsonHouston$4,604,000Big 12
17Buzz WilliamsTexas A&M$4,600,000SEC
T-18Chris JansMississippi State$4,200,000SEC
T-18Mike WoodsonIndiana$4,200,000Big Ten
20Jamie DixonTCU$4,106,441Big 12
T-21Dennis GatesMissouri$4,100,000SEC
T-21Kevin WillardMaryland$4,100,000Big Ten
23Dana AltmanOregon$4,007,000Big Ten
24Grant McCaslandTexas Tech$3,900,000Big 12
25Greg GardWisconsin$3,875,375Big Ten

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