Dawn Staley: A Basketball Legend
One of the greatest to do it in Women’s basketball.
Mostly everyone gives something to their passion. Then there are some people who give all they have. South Carolina Gamecocks Women’s Basketball Head Coach Dawn Staley is a person who has given her all to the to the game of basketball virtually her entire life.
She was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA with four other siblings. In her early life her mother Estelle Staley was a disciplinarian. “Abide by her rules, live clean, you’re good. You lived a happy life.” Said Dawn Staley when asked about her upbringing. Having this kind of mentality playing High School Basketball in Philadelphia earned her High School Player of the Year at Murrell Dobbins Vocational High School.
At the University of Viginia in Charlottesville, she led her team to three Final Fours and one National Championship game. She also was named ACC Player of the Year and National Player of the Year back-to-back in 1991 and 1992. To top off her brilliant college career off, her jersey number 24 is retired at the University of Virginia.
With a brief stint playing overseas in five different countries, she then chose to take her talents to the ABL and the WNBA. Before we get into that, her career with USA Basketball was equally as incredible as her college career. She has won a gold medal 13 times out of the 14 international games in which she has competed in. In my opinion, that’s unreal.
In 1999, Staley was the ninth pick overall in the WNBA draft by the Charlotte Sting and in 2001, led the Sting to championship game of the WNBA playoffs. After a six-year stint with the Sting, she was then traded to the Houston Comets in 2005 where she announced her retirement after that season and in 2011, she was voted one of the top 15 players in the history of the WNBA.
Challenged in 2001 by then athletic director Dave O’Brien at Temple University, that she couldn’t coach a college team and play in the WNBA simultaneously, Dawn Staley became Temple’s new head coach. In 2001,2002, 2004 and 2005, Her Temple Owls went on to make NCAA Tournament berths and became the fastest coach to win 100 games in NCAA Women’s Basketball history.
Since 2008 to the present, Dawn Staley has been the head coach of the South Carolina Gamecocks. Not only has she won a National Championship, but she also has over 600 wins and is the first person to win the Naismith Award as a player and a coach.
If I were to list all of her awards, accolades, and achievements throughout her basketball history, I could be writing all night. There is one common theme with her. All she does is succeed and win.