All she does is win

Dawn Staley is a Basketball Hall of Fame player and coach who continues to win titles and make history

Dawn Staley coached the South Carolina Gamecocks to their second national in five years on April 3rd. The University of South Carolina Athletic.

This column has been updated.

When someone is great at what they do there are usually stories that attest to their hard work and dedication in developing their remarkable skill.

At 51, Dawn Staley is one of the greatest women’s basketball players and coaches of all time.

There’s an anecdote about Staley that shows an early devotion to greatness.

As the youngest of five children to her parents, Clarence and Estelle, Staley often played with boys on the playgrounds of North Philadelphia, reports the sports network ESPN.

“She'd bring her ball to the court and withhold it unless they let her play too. She embodied the discipline she learned from her parents by putting a rubber band on one wrist. She'd snap it each time she committed a turnover. She'd have welts on her wrists," says former University of Virginia teammate Tammi Reiss.

The welts and hard work paid off.

Dawn Michelle Staley coached the South Carolina Gamecocks to their second national in five years on April 3rd after defeating the Connecticut Huskies 64-49. 

Days before coaching the Gamecocks to win the NCAA women’s basketball title, Staley won two major coaching honors: the Naismith Women's Coach of the Year and the U.S. Basketball Writers’ women’s Coach of the Year awards.

It’s the second time that Staley has won each award. She swept the awards in 2020 after coaching South Carolina to a 32-1 record and the No. 1 ranking in the polls but the pandemic forced the cancellation of that year’s NCAA tournament. Staley is the only person to win the Naismith award as a player (1991 and 92) and as a coach.  

She has been making history in women’s basketball for some time. 

Staley became the first Black woman to lead the U.S. women’s national basketball team to Olympic gold at the 2020 Summer Olympics in August.

On Aug. 8, in Saitama, Japan, Staley coached the United States to win its seventh straight gold medal in women’s basketball, beating Japan 90-75.

Staley won her own Olympic gold medals as a player on the 1996, 2000 and 2004 teams and helped the U.S. win gold as an assistant coach in 2008 and 2016. She joins the late Anne Donovan as the only Americans to help the U.S. win gold medals as players, assistants and then head coaches.

Breaking barriers is nothing new for Staley, who rose from the Raymond Rosen housing projects in North Philadelphia to become one of the best female basketball players and coaches.

As a guard at Dobbins Technical High School, she shined in Philadelphia’s Public League and rose to national prominence. She was named the national player of the year by USA Today in 1988. 

After high school, she played point guard for the University of Virginia and made three trips to the NCAA Final Four. Staley was a two-time National Player of the Year and Most Outstanding Player of the Year of the 1991 NCAA Final Four.

After college, Staley played in the American Basketball League for the Richmond Rage and later in the Women’s National Basketball Association for the Charlotte Sting and Houston Comets. She was a five-time WNBA All-Star.

Staley was voted by fans as one of the Top 15 players in WNBA history. She was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012. She was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.

While still a player, Staley started coaching Temple University Owls women’s basketball team, where she led the team to six NCAA tournaments, three regular season conference championships and four conference tournament titles. In 2008, she was named head coach for the University of South Carolina women’s basketball team, where she guided South Carolina to its first women's basketball national championship in 2017.

The four-time Olympic gold medalist, Staley was elected to carry the flag for the United States at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics.

In March, 2017, she was named head coach of the USA national team.

She is also making a difference off the court.

Staley 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 Center in Philadelphia.

She has also been outspoken on social media about gender inequity and social injustice.

“We’re at the NCAA Tournament and we see stark differences of what the men’s tournament looks like,” said Staley in a story in the Philadelphia Inquirer. She points out the difference in the amenities and resources provided to women players as compared to men and how the programs are marketed. “If you see that, you need to speak out.”

Despite barriers, Staley has not let anyone deter her from her goals.

She credits preparation and dedication as keys to her success. “A lot of people notice when you succeed, but they don’t see what it takes to get there.”

The Randolph Report is a weekly newsletter on politics, culture, current events and professional development relevant to Black Americans, curated by Irv Randolph, an award-winning journalist and political commentator. Sign up for free to receive new articles delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning.