Dawn Staley
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Dawn Michelle Staley (born May 4, 1970) is an American
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
Hall of Fame player and coach, who is currently the head coach for the South Carolina Gamecocks. Staley won three Olympic gold medals with Team USA as a player and later was head coach of another U.S. gold-medal winning team. Staley was elected to carry the United States flag at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics. After playing point guard for the
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...
under
Debbie Ryan Debbie Ryan (born November 4, 1952) is a former women's basketball coach who coached at the University of Virginia. Ryan also coached the American women's basketball team at the 2003 Pan American Games. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer ...
, and winning the gold medal at the
1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
, she went on to play professionally in the American Basketball League and the WNBA. In 2011, fans named Staley one of the Top 15 players in WNBA history. Staley was inducted into the
Women's Basketball Hall of Fame The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame honors those who have contributed to the sport of women's basketball. The Hall of Fame opened in 1999 in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. It is the only facility of its kind dedicated to all levels of women's ba ...
in 2012. She was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013. While still a WNBA player, she started coaching the Temple University Owls women's basketball team in 2000. In eight years at Temple, she led the program to six NCAA tournaments, three regular season conference championships, and four conference tournament titles. On May 7, 2008, she was named head coach for women's basketball at the University of South Carolina. Staley built South Carolina from the ground up. In her first six seasons as head coach, she improved her program's record every year, winning the SEC in 2013–2014. In late 2014 her team achieved the program's first #1 ranking, making her only the second individual to both play on and coach a #1 ranked team. Staley has gone on to lead South Carolina to six SEC regular season championships, six SEC tournament championships, eight Sweet Sixteens, four Final Fours, and two NCAA Women's Basketball National Championships. On April 2, 2020, Staley became the first person to win the Naismith Award as both a player and a coach. She also won the other three major National Coach of the Year awards after she led her team to a 32 win season and a final ranking of #1 in both major polls. Staley served as the United States women's national team head coach from 2017–2021, finishing with a perfect 45–0 record, before returning full time to South Carolina. In the
2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
, Staley won her first gold medal as head coach for Team USA, and fourth overall, winning all six games. On April 3, 2022, Staley led the Gamecocks to their 2nd national title with a 64–49 win over UConn, finishing the season 35–2 and being ranked #1 in both major polls for the entire season. Staley again would be named Naismith Award winner as the best coach in the nation for 2022.


Playing career


High school years

Staley was named the national high school player of the year during her final season at Murrell Dobbins Tech High School in Philadelphia.


College years

Staley attended the
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...
in Charlottesville, Virginia, from which she earned her degree in Rhetoric and Communication Studies. During her four seasons in college, she led her team to four NCAA Tournaments, three Final Fours and one National Championship game. She was named the ACC female athlete of the year and the national player of the year in 1991 and 1992. Staley finished her college career with 2,135 points and held the NCAA record for career steals with 454 (which has since been broken by current record holder, Natalie White). She finished her career at Virginia as the school's all-time scoring leader and as the ACC's all-time leader in assists at 729, but those records have since been broken by former UVA stars Monica Wright and Sharnee Zoll, respectively. Her number 24 is retired at UVA. In 1994–1995, after graduation, Staley played professional basketball in
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
in
Tarbes Tarbes (; Gascon: ''Tarba'') is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region of southwestern France. It is the capital of Bigorre and of the Hautes-Pyrénées. It has been a commune since 1790. It was known as ''Turba'' ...
,
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
,
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, and
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...
before joining the ABL and then the WNBA.


Virginia statistics

Source


USA Basketball

Staley was named to the USA Basketball Women's Junior National Team (now called the U19 team). The team participated in the second Junior World Championship, held in
Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...
, Spain, in July 1989. Team USA lost their opening game to South Korea in overtime, then lost a two-point game to Australia. After defeating Bulgaria, Team USA lost another close game, this time to Czechoslovakia by three points. The team followed that loss with a victory against Zaire, but dropped its final game to Spain, again by three points. Staley averaged 10.8 points per game and recorded 14 steals over the course of the event, both second-highest on the team. The Americans finished the tournament in seventh place. Staley was named to the team representing the United States at the World University Games held during July 1991 in
Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire ...
, England. While the American team had won gold in 1983, they finished with the silver in 1985, in fifth place in 1987, and did not field a team in 1989. The team was coached by Tara VanDerveer of Stanford. After winning opening games easily, Team USA faced China in the medal round. The Americans shot only 36% from the field, but limited the Chinese to just 35%, and advanced to the gold medal game by a score of 79–76. There they faced Spain, who had won all seven of their previous tournament games. However, Team USA defeated them easily, 88–62, to claim the gold medal. Staley averaged 4.9 points per game for the tournament. Staley competed with USA Basketball as a member of the 1992 Jones Cup Team that won the Gold in
Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...
. Staley played for Team USA throughout her career. In 1994 she competed in the World Championships and was named the USA basketball Female Athlete of the Year. She led the 1996 team to an undefeated record of 60–0 and the gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics. She was also a member of the 2000 Olympic team that defended the gold medal. Staley was selected to represent the United States at the 1995 USA Women's Pan American Games, but only four teams committed to participate, so the event was cancelled. Staley was named to the United States national team in 1998. The national team traveled to
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
, Germany, in July and August 1998 for the
FIBA World Championships The FIBA Basketball World Cup, also known as the FIBA World Cup of Basketball or simply the FIBA World Cup, between 1950 and 2010 known as the FIBA World Championship, is an international basketball competition contested by the senior men's nat ...
. Team USA won a close opening game against Japan, 95–89, then won their next six games easily. In the semifinal game against Brazil, Team USA was behind as much as ten points in the first half, but went on to win, 93–79. The gold medal game was a rematch against Russia. In the first game, the Americans dominated almost from the beginning, but in the rematch, Russia took the early lead and led much of the way. With under two minutes remaining, Team USA was down by two points, but rallied and then held on to win the gold medal by a score of 71–65. Staley hit two free throws with ten seconds left to extend a three-point lead to five, then hit another free throw with three seconds left in the game to seal the 71–65 victory. Staley averaged 7.0 points per game and made a record 52 assists. In 2002, Staley was named to the national team which competed in the World Championships in Zhangjiagang, Changzhou, and
Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and t ...
, China. The team was coached by Van Chancellor. Staley scored 4.9 points per game, and recorded a team-high 24 assists. Team USA won all nine games, including a close title game against Russia, with the teams separated by only one point late in the game. She won a third gold medal with Team USA at the 2004 Games in
Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...
. Her Olympic performance led to her being named 2004 USA Basketball Female Athlete Of The Year at the end of the year. Before the Games, she was selected to carry the flag of the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
during the parade of nations at the opening ceremony.


ABL

In 1996, she joined the
Richmond Rage Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, Californi ...
of the American Basketball League (ABL) and led the team to the ABL finals in 1997. The following season, the team moved to Staley's hometown of
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...
. Staley was named the 1996–1997 All-ABL first team and the All-ABL second team, the following season.


WNBA

In the 1999 WNBA draft, Staley was selected with the ninth overall pick by the Charlotte Sting. In 2001, she led the Sting to the Championship game of the WNBA playoffs. On August 1, 2005, Staley was traded to the Houston Comets. Staley announced before the start of the WNBA season that she would be retiring after the Comets season was over. The Comets made the playoffs and faced the
Sacramento Monarchs The Sacramento Monarchs were a basketball team based in Sacramento, California. They played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 1997 until folding on November 20, 2009. They played their home games at ARCO Arena. The Mon ...
in the first round. The Monarchs swept the Comets and won the series 2–0, ending Staley's career. In 2011, she was voted in by fans as one of the Top 15 players in the fifteen-year history of the WNBA.


Career statistics


=Regular season

= , - , align="left" ,
1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...
, align="left" ,
Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
, 32 , , 32 , , 33.3 , , .415 , , .317 , , .934 , , 2.3 , , 5.5 , , 1.2 , , 0.1 , , 2.81 , , 11.5 , - , align="left" , 2000 , align="left" ,
Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
, 32 , , 32 , , 34.3 , , .372 , , .330 , , .878 , , 2.4 , , 5.9 , , 1.2 , , 0.0 , , 2.84 , , 8.8 , - , align="left" , 2001 , align="left" ,
Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
, 32 , , 32 , , 36.0 , , .381 , , .371 , , .895 , , 2.2 , , 5.6 , , 1.6 , , 0.0 , , 3.13 , , 9.3 , - , align="left" , 2002 , align="left" ,
Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
, 32 , , 32 , , 33.2 , , .364 , , .398 , , .762 , , 1.8 , , 5.1 , , 1.5 , , 0.0 , , 2.50 , , 8.7 , - , align="left" , 2003 , align="left" ,
Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
, 34 , , 34 , , 31.9 , , .417 , , .389 , , .836 , , 1.7 , , 5.1 , , 1.4 , , 0.1 , , 2.29 , , 7.9 , - , align="left" , 2004 , align="left" ,
Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
, 34 , , 34 , , 33.6 , , .431 , , .407 , , .759 , , 1.7 , , 5.0 , , 1.3 , , 0.1 , , 2.18 , , 8.9 , - , align="left" , 2005* , align="left" ,
Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
, 23 , , 23 , , 29.7 , , .405 , , .405 , , .767 , , 2.3 , , 5.3 , , 1.3 , , 0.0 , , 1.83 , , 6.3 , - , align="left" , 2005* , align="left" ,
Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...
, 10 , , 3 , , 22.1 , , .357 , , .286 , , .900 , , 1.7 , , 2.8 , , 0.6 , , 0.1 , , 1.20 , , 3.3 , - , align="left" , 2005 , align="left" ,
Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...
, 33 , , 26 , , 27.4 , , .396 , , .375 , , .800 , , 2.1 , , 4.5 , , 1.1 , , 0.0 , , 1.64 , , 5.4 , - , align="left" , 2006 , align="left" ,
Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...
, 34 , , 34 , , 29.9 , , .420 , , .427 , , .806 , , 2.2 , , 3.9 , , 1.0 , , 0.2 , , 2.24 , , 7.4 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , 8 years, 2 teams , 263 , , 256 , , 32.4 , , .399 , , .376 , , .824 , , 2.0 , , 5.1 , , 1.3 , , 0.1 , , 2.44 , , 7.5


=Playoffs

= , - , align="left" ,
1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...
, align="left" ,
Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
, 4 , , 4 , , 39.3 , , .325 , , .438 , , .833 , , 1.3 , , 5.8 , , 0.8 , , 0.0 , , 2.75 , , 12.0 , - , align="left" , 2001 , align="left" ,
Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
, 8 , , 8 , , 37.6 , , .416 , , .500 , , .810 , , 2.3 , , 4.4 , , 1.1 , , 0.3 , , 4.25 , , 11.8 , - , align="left" , 2002 , align="left" ,
Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
, 2 , , 2 , , 39.0 , , .286 , , .200 , , .500 , , 2.5 , , 5.0 , , 1.5 , , 0.0 , , 2.00 , , 8.5 , - , align="left" , 2003 , align="left" ,
Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
, 2 , , 2 , , 29.0 , , .353 , , .500 , , .400 , , 2.5 , , 3.5 , , 2.0 , , 0.0 , , 2.00 , , 9.0 , - , align="left" , 2005 , align="left" ,
Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...
, 5 , , 0 , , 25.0 , , .462 , , .375 , , .857 , , 0.8 , , 2.8 , , 1.8 , , 0.0 , , 1.40 , , 4.2 , - , align="left" , 2006 , align="left" ,
Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...
, 2 , , 2 , , 20.0 , , .143 , , .333 , , .000 , , 2.5 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 2.00 , , 1.5 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , 6 years, 2 teams , 23 , , 18 , , 33.0 , , .366 , , .423 , , .754 , , 1.8 , , 4.0 , , 1.2 , , 0.1 , , 2.78 , , 8.7


Coaching career


Temple Owls (2000–2008)

Staley had no interest in coaching when she was initially approached by the athletic director of Temple University, Dave O'Brien. She was on the Olympic team at the time which was attending the Final Four in Philadelphia. O'Brien, mindful that Staley was a Philadelphia native and star basketball player at Philadelphia's Dobbins Technical High School, talked her into visiting the campus, where she was guided to a conference room with a dozen people who were treating her visit as a job interview. When they asked her if she saw herself as a coach she replied "no, not at all". She initially resisted offers to become the coach. O'Brien changed his tactics and challenged her to identify some ways to turn the program around. She was still playing in the WNBA at the time and her friends told her it would be impossible to continue to play and coach. That challenge convinced her she should give coaching a try, and accepted the position of head coach at Temple. In her first season, 2000–01, Temple advanced to the WNIT. In 2001, 2002, and 2004, her teams won the Atlantic 10 tournament to qualify for the NCAA tournament. In the 2004–05 season, Staley's Owls went 28–4, including a perfect 19–0 against Atlantic 10 opponents. However, they lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to
Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...
. Staley reached the 100-win plateau in the A-10 Semifinals vs
Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati and Evanston (Cincinnati), Ohio. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier has an undergraduate enrollment of 4,860 stud ...
that season, becoming the fastest coach in women's basketball to achieve that feat. On May 7, 2008, it was confirmed by Temple University that Staley would leave Temple for the recently vacated coaching position at the University of South Carolina. She left Temple with the best overall record of 172–80, along with six NCAA appearances and four
Atlantic 10 The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Easter ...
titles.


South Carolina Gamecocks (2008–present)

At South Carolina she started rebuilding a program from scratch, suffering through two losing seasons at the start of her tenure. Starting with 10 wins during the 2008–2009 season, she led the program to ever better finishes in each subsequent season, leading to the program's first number 1 ranking and Final Four appearance during the 2014–2015 season. They picked up where they left off a year later, going undefeated in SEC play; however, they were upended in the Sweet 16 by Syracuse. In 2016–17, the Gamecocks repeated as SEC regular season and tournament champions for the third year in a row, and advanced to the second Final Four in school history. They defeated conference rival Mississippi State in the national championship game to win the first national title in school history. Staley became the second
African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
to lead a women's basketball team to a national championship; Carolyn Peck had coached Purdue to the 1999 national championship. After the 2017 win, '' The Post and Courier'' listed Staley first in their ranking of the 25 most powerful people in South Carolina sports. Under Staley the program has captured five SEC regular season championships, six SEC tournament titles, three Final Fours, two NCAA National Championships, seven sweet sixteen appearances, five SEC player of the year awards and five SEC freshman of the year awards. Staley herself has been awarded SEC coach of the year five times. In 2020, Staley led the Gamecocks to a 32–1 season, winning yet another SEC regular season, and tournament championship. The Gamecocks finished #1 in both major polls, before the NCAA Tournament was cancelled. Staley swept the National Coach of the year awards in 2020, she is the first person to win the Naismith award as a player, and also as a coach. In 2021, Staley led her team to a third Final Four, before losing a controversial game to Stanford 66–65. Staley's Gamecocks signed the #1 class for the upcoming 2021–22 season. On October 15, 2021, Staley signed a massive seven-year, $22.4 million contract extension with South Carolina, making her the highest paid Black college basketball coach in the country. In 2022 the Gamecocks were #1 in both polls for the entire season, they would go on to defeat 14 ranked teams, including Stanford, UConn, NC State
Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
,
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...
,
Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are r ...
, LSU,
Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...
, and Georgia. In the NCAA tournament, the Gamecocks defeated Howard,
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
,
North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...
, Creighton, Louisville, and then UConn again. Staley is the first coach to defeat Geno Auriemma, Tara VanDerveer and Kim Mulkey in the same season. Staley was again named Naismith Award winner, and coached the National Player of the Year Aliyah Boston.


USA Basketball

Dawn Staley served as an assistant coach for the USA National team in 2006, a team in transition. Lisa Leslie, who had led the team in scoring in the 2004 Olympics, the 2002 World Championships, the 2000 Olympics, the 1998 World Championships, and the 1996 Olympics was no longer on the team. Sheryl Swoopes was available but hampered by injuries, with Staley transitioning from player to coach. Newcomers Sue Bird, Candace Parker and Diana Taurasi picked up the slack, but it was a team in transition. As an additional challenge, some members of the squad were unable to join the team for practices due to WNBA commitments. The team started out strong, winning each of the six preliminary games, including the game against Russia. In the quarterfinals, the USA team beat Spain 90–56. The semifinal was a rematch against Russia, but this time the Russian team prevailed, 75–68. The USA faced Brazil in the bronze medal game, and won easily 99–59. During the
2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...
in Beijing, China, Staley served as an assistant coach under Team USA head coach
Anne Donovan Anne Theresa Donovan (November 1, 1961 – June 13, 2018) was an American women's basketball player and coach. From 2013 to 2015, she was the head coach of the Connecticut Sun. In her playing career, Donovan won a national championship with Ol ...
and helped the Americans win their fourth straight gold medal in women's basketball and sixth in their past seven Olympic appearances. After coaching Team USA to a gold medal at the 2007 Pan Am games, she served as head coach to the U17 Team in 2014 and the U19 Team in 2015, winning gold medals at the U18 Americas Championship and the U19 FIBA World Championship. The USA basketball organization awarded her the code national coach of the year award as a result of the U 19 gold-medal. She shared the award with
Sean Miller Sean Edward Miller (born November 17, 1968) is an American college basketball coach who currently serves as head coach of the Xavier Musketeers. He previously was in that position from 2004 to 2009, after which he took the head coach position f ...
who coached the U19 men's team to a gold medal. She served as an assistant coach under Team USA head coach Geno Auriemma for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and helped the Americans win their sixth straight gold medal in women's basketball and eighth in their past nine Olympic appearances. On March 10, 2017 she was named head coach of USA National team At the
2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
, Staley won her first Gold medal as Team USA's Head coach, winning all six games, and extending her record to 45–0; Staley has also coached Team USA to gold medals in the 2018 World Cup in
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...
, and two gold medals in the 2019 and 2021 FIBA AmeriCup.


Awards and honors

* 1991—Winner of the
Honda Sports Award The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in th ...
for basketball * 1991— WBCA Player of the Year * 1991— Naismith College Player of the Year * 1991— USBWA Women's National Player of the Year * 1991—The
Honda-Broderick Cup The Honda-Broderick Cup is a sports award for college-level female athletes. The awards are voted on by a national panel of more than 1000 collegiate athletic directors. It was first presented by Tom Broderick, an American owner of a women's sports ...
winner for all sports. * 1992—Winner of the Honda Sports Award for basketball * 1992—WBCA Player of the Year * 1992— Naismith College Player of the Year * 1992— USBWA Women's National Player of the Year * 2008— Virginia Sports Hall of Fame * 2012—Inducted into the
Women's Basketball Hall of Fame The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame honors those who have contributed to the sport of women's basketball. The Hall of Fame opened in 1999 in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. It is the only facility of its kind dedicated to all levels of women's ba ...
. * 2013— Order of the Palmetto * 2014—SEC Coach of the Year * 2015—SEC Co-Coach of the Year * 2015—USA Basketball Co-National Coach of the Year * 2016—SEC Coach of the Year * 2017— Omicron Delta Kappa faculty/staff initiate at the University of South Carolina * 2020—SEC Coach of the Year * 2020—
Naismith College Coach of the Year Naismith College Coach of the Year Award is an award given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to one men's and one women's NCAA Division I collegiate coach each season since 1987. The award was originally given to the two winning coaches of the NCAA Divi ...
* 2020— USBWA National Coach of the Year * 2020— AP National Coach of the Year * 2020— WBCA National Coach of the Year * 2021–USA Basketball Co-National Coach of the year * 2022—SEC Coach of the Year * 2022—
USBWA Women's National Coach of the Year The United States Basketball Writers Association National Coach of the Year Award is an award given by the United States Basketball Writers Association to best women's college basketball coach since season 1989-90. Winners See also *United Sta ...
* 2022—
Naismith College Coach of the Year Naismith College Coach of the Year Award is an award given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to one men's and one women's NCAA Division I collegiate coach each season since 1987. The award was originally given to the two winning coaches of the NCAA Divi ...
* 2022— WBCA National Coach of the Year


Head coaching record


Personal life

Her parents, Clarence and Estelle Staley, moved to North Philadelphia from South Carolina in the 1950s, when they were still teenagers. They married young and in 1967 moved into a three-bedroom, single-bath row house, where they raised five children—three boys, Lawrence, Anthony, Eric, and two girls, Tracey, and their youngest daughter Dawn. Staley now heads the Dawn Staley Foundation, which gives middle-school children a positive influence in their lives by sponsoring an after-school program at the Hank Gathers Recreation Center. The Center focuses on academics and athletics and sponsors basketball leagues and other fund-raising activities. Staley owns a Havanese dog named Champ, who has his own Twitter account, and frequently visits practices.


See also

* Lisa Leslie *
Sheryl Swoopes Sheryl Denise Swoopes (born March 25, 1971) is an American former professional basketball player. She was the first player to be signed in the WNBA, is a three-time WNBA MVP, and was named one of the league's Top 15 Players of All Time at the 201 ...


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Staley, Dawn 1970 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American women 21st-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American women African-American basketball players African-American sportswomen All-American college women's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Brazil American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Spain American Olympic coaches American women's basketball coaches American women's basketball players Basketball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania Basketball players from Philadelphia Charlotte Sting players Houston Comets players Medalists at the 1991 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball) Philadelphia Rage players Point guards Richmond Rage players South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball coaches Tarbes Gespe Bigorre players Temple Owls women's basketball coaches Universiade gold medalists for the United States Universiade medalists in basketball Virginia Cavaliers women's basketball players Women's National Basketball Association All-Stars United States women's national basketball team players