Dawn Staley

Life and work

The story behind the role.

Championship-winning basketball coach and former elite player who has shaped the women's game.

Dawn Michelle Staley (born May 4, 1970) is an American basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team. A point guard, she played college basketball for the Virginia Cavaliers and spent eight seasons in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), primarily with the Charlotte Sting. Staley also played on the United States women's national basketball team, winning three gold medals at the Olympic Games from 1996 to 2004, and was the head coach of the team that won an Olympic gold medal in 2021. She is the only person to win the Naismith Award as both a player and a coach. During her college career with Virginia from 1988 to 1992, Staley set the NCAA record for steals, the school record for points, and the ACC record for assists. She played professionally in the American Basketball League (ABL) during its three years of operation before being selected ninth overall by the Sting in the 1999 WNBA draft. As a member of the Sting and the Houston Comets, she received six consecutive WNBA All-Star selections from 2001 to her final season in 2006. Staley spent most of her WNBA career simultaneously serving as the head coach of the Temple Owls women's basketball team from 2000 to 2008, leading them to six NCAA tournaments, three regular-season conference championships, and four conference tournament titles. After becoming South Carolina's head coach in 2008, Staley rebuilt the Gamecocks into one of the top women's basketball programs. During her 16 seasons, she has led South Carolina to nine NCAA tournaments, five championship game appearances (including three consecutive from 2024 and 2026), and three titles, including the program's first in 2017 and a perfect season in 2024. Staley was inducted into the…

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