From Stu out at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Fortunes soar for women's coaches

A $23,000 salary provided a frugal starting point for Joanne P. McCallie's coaching career as a graduate student at Auburn University in 1988.

So, she was thrilled when the University of Maine offered $49,000 to coach its women's basketball team in 1992 at a time when the sport was still looking for mainstream acceptance.

But the big payoff came in 2007.

Weeks after McCallie agreed to a $500,000 contract extension at Michigan State, Duke lured her away with an offer that made her one of the 10 highest-paid coaches in women's college basketball, with a package estimated to be worth at least $750,000.