South Carolina Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley once shared how her Philadelphia upbringing helped nurture her championship-winning competitive mindset. In May 2023, Staley appeared on “The Pivot Podcast” and was asked by host Channing Crowder how she copes with criticism and whether her Philadelphia background helped develop her mentality.
Staley pointed out how much of a competition everything was to her, even at a young age. Being the youngest in her family, Staley felt that she always had a chip on her shoulder that she needed to prove herself. Nevertheless, it helped her to translate that fire into on-court success both as a player and now as a coach.
“I’m the youngest of five. So, everything was a competition, to eat was a competition, to get in the bathroom ’cause it was one bathroom for seven of us. You know, our neighborhoods created competition, so it’s more like I might have been born being competitive. It might have been innately in me to be competitive. It’s like, where do you foster that, where do you find the places to feed that, that will have a positive impact on your life,” Staley said (3:30).
She also talked about avoiding the temptation of gambling and instead focusing on developing her skillset and knowledge of sports, particularly basketball.
“I’m glad I didn’t learn at an early age to play craps. Maybe because I never had money to play. I don’t even like it, you go to a casino, you play craps, and you get the highest percentage of winning the most out on the crap table. But, I didn’t learn that because being as competitive as I am, I probably would have lost a lot,” Staley added (4:20).
“Sports was the thing that really got me into just feeding my insatiable appetite for wanting to win,” she concluded.
Staley just concluded her 17th year as the head coach of the Gamecocks, wherein they finished the 2024-25 campaign with an overall record of 35-4 (15-1 SEC). Being the 2024 national champions, their title defense was thwarted by the UConn Huskies in the 2025 national title game, courtesy of a 23-point defeat, 82-59.
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Dawn Staley reached the NCAA title game both as a player and as a coach
Coach Dawn Staley is well-respected in the basketball world for her accomplishments both as a player and a coach, especially in college basketball.
During her playing days with the Virginia Cavaliers from 1988 to 1992, Staley was named the 1991 NCAA tournament MOP after leading her team to that year’s national title game. Since then, she’s won three national championships with the South Carolina Gamecocks, getting to the winner-take-all game four times.
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