This offseason has been one for the ages as many high-profile universities needed to find a replacement for their head coach, most notably Baylor and USC. And usually, in women’s basketball, Athletic Directors often choose to underpay — and not pay women’s basketball head coaches their true worth, all the while paying above-market money for football coaches and men’s basketball coaches.
However, this offseason, Arizona’s Adia Barnes and USC’s Lindsay Gottlieb not only got their worth, they easily triumphed in negotiations in a major way. They did something that many coaches in women’s basketball need to do: they flexed their bargaining power every chance they got to get the money exactly they truly deserved.
First, let’s delve into Barnes, who by far has the greatest brand appeal after coming within one point of winning this year’s National Championship. And while she’s an exceptional coach, motivator, and leader, her business acumen is just as elite. Before the end of the 2021 season, Arizona announced that it had given Barnes an extension that would raise her salary from $235,000 to $407,500.
Then Oklahoma called.
And while it didn’t get out publicly, the Sooners aggressively pursued Barnes, who smartly forced her alma mater’s hand. Then on April 7, Arizona announced that they had renegotiated her contract again with a new extension that was set to pay her $580,000 next year, which was a bump from $432,500. Shortly after this announcement, Oklahoma hired Jennie Baranczyk as its head coach on April 10.
However, for the success that Barnes garnered, that was still well below market for someone of her excellence and caliber. So, what did she do? She used Baylor’s opening to force Arizona’s hand. Most didn’t know that Baylor’s AD, Mack Rhoades, is an Arizona alum and was there when Barnes was an all-world player for the Wildcats. And yes, Rhoades made a serious run at Barnes … very serious run!
Because, while it never got out publicly, both the Lady Bears aggressively pursued Barnes, and as sources tell The Ball Out, they threw the “Brinks truck” at her.
Now, do we think Barnes was going to leave? Probably not, since she loves her alma mater so much; however, she knows her worth and made Arizona realize it, too. So much so that Arizona renegotiated her contract again and will now pay Barnes over $1M annually going forward. Who says these universities don’t have the money to compensate women’s basketball coaches accordingly?
Gottlieb leaves NBA for USC
Gottlieb never intended to leave the NBA and the Cleveland Cavaliers; as a matter of fact, she turned down USC on April 30, as we first reported. So how did she end up with the Women of Troy?
Gottlieb knew her value — and she wouldn’t settle!
USC always wanted Gottlieb, but it was going to have to do something USC want to do initially: Meet her on her terms, period! After being rejected by Gottlieb, USC attempted to move on, but they were rejected by the other choices as well. And every time they were turned down, it went back after Gottlieb. From what sources tell us, USC was turned down three times.
After USC was told “no” for the third time, it circled back to Gottlieb and raised the standard to meet hers, which led to an unprecedented commitment from the athletics department to women’s basketball. USC also stepped up financially in many ways, most notably, in the salary for Gottlieb, which is more than $800,000 a year with incentives.
USC showed her the money, and this time, the Trojans got the “yes” it was yearning for from the outset.
In the past, the Trojans have been known to be cheap when it came to their financial commitment to women’s basketball; however, not this time around — and it’s because of Gottlieb not settling and USC Athletics Director Mike Bohn recognizing her worth.
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