The 2025-26 season features some of the biggest coaching salaries college basketball has ever seen. With TV money, NIL-fueled recruiting battles, and deeper tournament runs driving pay higher, the top end of the market now resembles that of professional sports. These ten head coaches lead the field in total compensation entering the 2025-26 season.
Top 10 Highest-Paid Coaches in College Basketball in 2026
| Rank | Coach | School | Salary (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bill Self | Kansas | $8.80 million |
| 2 | Dan Hurley | UConn | $7.78 million |
| 3 | John Calipari | Arkansas | $7.0 million |
| 4 | Tom Izzo | Michigan State | $6.20 million |
| 5 | Mick Cronin | UCLA | $6.10 million |
| 6 | Rick Barnes | Tennessee | $6.0 million |
| 6 | Todd Golden | Florida | $6.0 million |
| 8 | Bruce Pearl | Auburn | $5.96 million |
| 9 | Kelvin Sampson | Houston | $5.5 million |
| 10 | Scott Drew | Baylor | $5.4 million |
1. Bill Self (Kansas) $8.8 Million
It’s Year 23 for Self in Lawrence. He’s turned Big 12 titles into routine: 16 regular-season crowns at KU and eight league tournament trophies. Kansas pays him $8.8 million, and it’s easy to see why, two national championships, four Final Fours, and a level of consistency no one else matches.
Kansas didn’t win the 2025 Big 12 regular season (Houston did), but Self’s résumé already reads like a program history book.
2. Dan Hurley (UConn) $7.78 Million
Hurley took over in 2018 and reshaped UConn fast. The Huskies won back-to-back national titles in 2023 and 2024, then bowed out in the 2025 second round to eventual champ Florida after a first-round win that tied the modern NCAA tourney win-streak record.
His $7.78 million paycheck reflects how quickly he rebuilt a national power. In league play, UConn lifted the 2024 Big East regular-season and tournament titles; in 2025 they finished third in the regular season with St. John’s taking the crown and the tournament.
The hardware column is still heavy: two national titles under Hurley and the program’s first outright Big East regular-season title since 1999.
3. John Calipari (Arkansas) $7.0 Million
A fresh chapter. Calipari arrived in April 2024 and made an immediate NCAA Tournament splash in Year 1: 22–14 overall, and a Sweet 16 after knocking out Kansas and then No. 2-seed St. John’s.
For a coach on a $7 million deal, he delivered immediate return, as Arkansas hadn’t looked this relevant in years. No SEC title yet at Arkansas, but the March wins are already coming, especially after beating a top-two seed to reach the second weekend.
Contractually, he signed a five-year deal at Arkansas in 2024.
4. Tom Izzo (Michigan State) $6.2 Million
Since 1995, Izzo has lived in East Lansing and stacked results. The 2024-25 Spartans won the Big Ten regular-season title (his 11th), part of a season that pushed MSU’s NCAA Tournament streak to 27 straight, the longest active run and a Big Ten record.
The March haul over three decades includes eight Final Fours and the 2000 national championship, with more Sweet 16s than most programs have in their entire history. That history explains his $6.2 million salary, he’s still setting the standard others chase.
5. Mick Cronin (UCLA) $6.1 Million
Cronin took the UCLA job in 2019 and delivered quickly: a 2021 Final Four, a 2023 Pac-12 regular-season title, and then a jump to the Big Ten in 2024-25. In their first Big Ten season, the Bruins went 23–11 (13–7) and reached the 2025 NCAA Round of 32—respectable footing in a new league.
UCLA now pays him $6.1 million for giving the program its edge and relevance back. The league-title ledger at UCLA so far features that 2023 regular-season crown; the deep March run remains the 2021 Final Four.
6. Rick Barnes (Tennessee) $6.0 Million
Barnes has run Tennessee since 2015, and 2025-26 is his 11th season in Knoxville. His teams have stacked SEC hardware: regular-season titles in 2017-18 and 2023-24, plus the 2022 SEC Tournament crown.
The NCAA résumé is deep too, with seven straight bids from 2018–2025 and back-to-back Elite Eight trips in 2024 and 2025. Tennessee pays him $6 million to maintain that level of reliability, a figure earned through sustained success and postseason presence.
6. Todd Golden (Florida) $6.0 Million
Golden arrived in March 2022 and Florida just peaked in Year 3. The Gators won the 2025 SEC Tournament, then ripped through March to claim the 2025 national title, finishing 36-4 and No. 1 in the final AP poll. That run included wins over UConn, Auburn in the Final Four, and Houston in the title game.
His new $6 million contract came immediately after, which is appropriate for the youngest active coach with a national title.
8. Bruce Pearl (Auburn) $5.96 Million
Pearl’s decade-plus at Auburn has turned the program into a perennial contender. The Tigers own multiple SEC crowns under him, including the 2024-25 regular-season title, and they reached the Final Four again in 2025 after the breakthrough in 2019.
Auburn’s willingness to spend nearly $6 million per year shows what his transformation is worth. Last season set school records: 32 wins, a stretch at No. 1, and the program’s first overall No. 1 seed. Auburn followed a 2024 SEC Tournament title with that 2025 surge, cementing Pearl as the winningest coach in school history.
9. Kelvin Sampson (Houston) $5.5 Million
Sampson has led Houston since 2014 and the Cougars have only leveled up since joining the Big 12. They captured Big 12 regular-season titles in each of their first two seasons in the league and added the 2025 Big 12 Tournament title.
Houston then won 35 games and reached the 2025 national championship game, falling to Florida after knocking out Tennessee in the Elite Eight. The school rewarded him with a new four-year contract starting at $5.5 million, a figure that fits a coach who’s built a modern juggernaut.
10. Scott Drew (Baylor) $5.4 Million
Drew has been the constant in Waco since 2003. The rebuild peaked with Baylor’s first national championship in 2021, the same year the Bears claimed their first Big 12 title in school history. That’s why his $5.4 million salary barely raises eyebrows anymore, he earned it over two decades of top-10 finishes and postseason consistency.
Under Drew, Baylor has delivered 13 NCAA Tournament appearances over the last 18 seasons, with multiple Sweet 16s and Elite Eights, and sustained top-10 stretches.
