The University of South Carolina board of trustees met on Tuesday to approve the contract of Ashley Chastain, who has been hired as the head coach of the softball team.
Chastain will earn a salary of $300,000 each year through the 2029 Â鶹Сòòò½´«Ã½. Her contract includes the opportunity to earn more through performance-based incentives.
Chastain was most recently the head softball coach at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and led the team to a record of 39-18 (21-6 American Athletic Conference) this past Â鶹Сòòò½´«Ã½. Charlotte won the 2024 AAC Championship Tournament but was eliminated from the first round of the NCAA Tournament in the Athens Regional.
Chastain is also no stranger to being a Gamecock. She played at South Carolina from 2009 to 2011 and served as a graduate assistant in 2012.
The program is seeing a change in leadership for the first time since 2010, the year former head coach Beverly Smith was hired. Smith's departure was announced on June 8 following a Â鶹Сòòò½´«Ã½ where South Carolina finished 36-24 (8-16 SEC).