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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

Hall of Fame player and coach, who is currently the head coach for the

South Carolina Gamecocks The South Carolina Gamecocks represent the University of South Carolina in the NCAA Division I. The University of South Carolina uses "Gamecocks" as its official nickname and mascot. While the men's teams were traditionally known as the Fighti ...

. 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 The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the ca ...

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, 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 Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then calle ...

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 Naismith Award is a basketball award named after James Naismith, and awarded by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. Naismith Awards include: * Naismith College Player of the Year (men's and women's; NCAA Division I basketball) * Naismith College Coach of t ...

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 List of Olympic Games h ...

, 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 The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from ...

, finishing the season 35–2 and being ranked #1 in both major polls for the entire season. Staley again would be named

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

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 regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

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") , i ...

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 a ...

, 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 Tara Ann VanDerveer (born June 26, 1953) is an American basketball coach who has been the head women's basketball coach at Stanford University since 1985. Designated the Setsuko Ishiyama Director of Women's Basketball, VanDerveer led the Stanf ...

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 List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, Germany, in July and August 1998 for the FIBA World Championships. 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 Zhangjiagang (), formerly Shazhou County (), is a county-level city under the administration of Suzhou, Jiangsu province, China and one of the many ports along the Yangtze river. With 1,246,762 inhabitants as of the 2010 census, the city is now ...

Changzhou Changzhou ( Changzhounese: ''Zaon Tsei'', ) is a prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. It was previously known as Yanling, Lanling and Jinling. Located on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, Changzhou borders the provin ...

, and

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. 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 ...

. 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 primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

during the parade of nations at the opening ceremony.

ABL

In 1996, she joined the Richmond Rage 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 List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. 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 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 schoo ...

, Staley was selected with the ninth overall pick by the

Charlotte Sting The Charlotte Sting were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, one of the league's eight original teams. The team folded on January 3, 2007. The Sting was originally the sister organization of ...

. 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 Mona ...

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 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

, align="left" ,

, 32 , , 32 , , 34.3 , , .372 , , .330 , , .878 , , 2.4 , , 5.9 , , 1.2 , , 0.0 , , 2.84 , , 8.8 , - , align="left" , 2001 , align="left" ,

, 32 , , 32 , , 36.0 , , .381 , , .371 , , .895 , , 2.2 , , 5.6 , , 1.6 , , 0.0 , , 3.13 , , 9.3 , - , align="left" , 2002 , align="left" ,

, 32 , , 32 , , 33.2 , , .364 , , .398 , , .762 , , 1.8 , , 5.1 , , 1.5 , , 0.0 , , 2.50 , , 8.7 , - , align="left" , 2003 , align="left" ,

, 34 , , 34 , , 31.9 , , .417 , , .389 , , .836 , , 1.7 , , 5.1 , , 1.4 , , 0.1 , , 2.29 , , 7.9 , - , align="left" , 2004 , align="left" ,

, 34 , , 34 , , 33.6 , , .431 , , .407 , , .759 , , 1.7 , , 5.0 , , 1.3 , , 0.1 , , 2.18 , , 8.9 , - , align="left" , 2005* , align="left" ,

, 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 i ...

, 10 , , 3 , , 22.1 , , .357 , , .286 , , .900 , , 1.7 , , 2.8 , , 0.6 , , 0.1 , , 1.20 , , 3.3 , - , align="left" , 2005 , align="left" ,

, 33 , , 26 , , 27.4 , , .396 , , .375 , , .800 , , 2.1 , , 4.5 , , 1.1 , , 0.0 , , 1.64 , , 5.4 , - , align="left" , 2006 , align="left" ,

, 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" ,

, align="left" ,

, 4 , , 4 , , 39.3 , , .325 , , .438 , , .833 , , 1.3 , , 5.8 , , 0.8 , , 0.0 , , 2.75 , , 12.0 , - , align="left" , 2001 , align="left" ,

, 8 , , 8 , , 37.6 , , .416 , , .500 , , .810 , , 2.3 , , 4.4 , , 1.1 , , 0.3 , , 4.25 , , 11.8 , - , align="left" , 2002 , align="left" ,

, 2 , , 2 , , 39.0 , , .286 , , .200 , , .500 , , 2.5 , , 5.0 , , 1.5 , , 0.0 , , 2.00 , , 8.5 , - , align="left" , 2003 , align="left" ,

, 2 , , 2 , , 29.0 , , .353 , , .500 , , .400 , , 2.5 , , 3.5 , , 2.0 , , 0.0 , , 2.00 , , 9.0 , - , align="left" , 2005 , align="left" ,

, 5 , , 0 , , 25.0 , , .462 , , .375 , , .857 , , 0.8 , , 2.8 , , 1.8 , , 0.0 , , 1.40 , , 4.2 , - , align="left" , 2006 , align="left" ,

, 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

, 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 Eastern ...

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 Carolyn Arlene Peck (born January 22, 1966) is an American television sportscaster and former college basketball coach. She was the head coach for the women's basketball teams of Purdue University and the University of Florida, and also the first ...

had coached Purdue to the 1999 national championship. After the 2017 win, ''

The Post and Courier ''The Post and Courier'' is the main daily newspaper in Charleston, South Carolina. It traces its ancestry to three newspapers, the ''Charleston Courier'', founded in 1803, the ''Charleston Daily News'', founded 1865, and ''The Evening Post'', f ...

'' listed Staley first in their ranking of the 25 most powerful people in South Carolina sports. Coach_Staley_with_fan

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,

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The university ...

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

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 to ...

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 rank ...

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. 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 state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

, Creighton,

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

, and then UConn again. Staley is the first coach to defeat

Geno Auriemma Luigi "Geno" Auriemma (born March 23, 1954) is an Italian-born American college basketball coach and, since 1985, the head coach of the University of Connecticut Connecticut Huskies women's basketball, Huskies women's basketball team. , he has le ...

and

Kim Mulkey Kimberly Duane Mulkey (born May 17, 1962) is an American college basketball player and coach. She is the head coach for Louisiana State University's women's basketball team. A Pan-American gold medalist in 1983 and Olympic gold medalist in 1984, ...

in the same season. Staley was again named Naismith Award winner, and coached the National Player of the Year

Aliyah Boston Aliyah Boston (born December 11, 2001) is an American college basketball player for the South Carolina Gamecocks of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). She plays the power forward and center positions. Born in Saint Thomas, United States Virgin ...

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 Candace Nicole Parker (born April 19, 1986) is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Sky of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was selected as the first overall pick in the 2008 WNBA draft by the Los Ang ...

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 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

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 1 ...

, 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 The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

, and two gold medals in the

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

and 2021 FIBA AmeriCup.

Awards and honors

* 1991—Winner of the Honda Sports Award for basketball * 1991—

WBCA Player of the Year The Women's Basketball Coaches Association Player of the Year award is presented annually to the best women's college basketball players in NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III, Division III as voted by the WBCA membership. From 1983 to 2000, the ...

* 1991—

Naismith College Player of the Year The Naismith College Player of the Year is an annual basketball award given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to the top men's and women's collegiate basketball players. It is named in honor of Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball. History an ...

* 1991—

USBWA Women's National Player of the Year The United States Basketball Writers Association National Player of the Year Award is an award that has been presented by the United States Basketball Writers Association since the 1987–88 season to the top women's college basketball player in NC ...

* 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 sport ...

winner for all sports. * 1992—Winner of the Honda Sports Award for basketball * 1992—WBCA Player of the Year * 1992—

* 1992—

* 2008—

Virginia Sports Hall of Fame The Virginia Sports Hall of Fame honors athletes, coaches, administrators, journalists and other contributors to athletics. Many of the more than 350 inductees since 1972 were born in Virginia or enjoyed success in college, professional, amateur or ...

* 2012—Inducted into the

. * 2013—

Order of the Palmetto The Order of the Palmetto is the highest civilian honor awarded by the Governor of South Carolina. It is awarded to South Carolinians who demonstrate extraordinary lifetime achievement, service and contributions of national or statewide significance ...

* 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 Divis ...

* 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—

* 2022— WBCA National Coach of the Year

Head coaching record

Personal life

Her parents, Clarence and Estelle Staley, moved to

North Philadelphia North Philadelphia, nicknamed North Philly, is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is immediately north of Center City. Though the full extent of the region is somewhat vague, "North Philadelphia" is regarded as everything north of either ...

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 The Havanese, a bichon-type dog, is the national dog of Cuba, developed from the now extinct ''Blanquito de la Habana'' ("little white dog of Havana"). The ''Blanquito'' descended from the also now-extinct Bichón Tenerife. It is believed that ...

named Champ, who has his own Twitter account, and frequently visits practices.

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