South Carolina Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley once looked back on the reason for choosing the Virginia Cavaliers as her college basketball program. In May 2023, Staley appeared on “The Pivot Podcast,” where host Ryan Clark asked about her transition from growing up in the city of Philadelphia to moving to Virginia for collegiate hoops.
Staley said she was not culture-shocked at the University of Virginia since she was hell-bent on becoming the focal point of the school’s women’s college basketball team. She then shared why exactly she chose to play for the Cavaliers, revealing one factor that she would never compromise on.
“I grew up in a neighborhood that was 100% black, and then I got a predominantly white university, and I mean, it wasn’t a culture shock because I never dealt with anybody other than athletes. I kept to myself, like I only wanted to play basketball. I went to Virginia to play basketball. I didn’t go there because it was a prestigious university, I went there because I wanted to be a part of a program that hadn’t won a national championship,” Staley said (8:00).
“In life, when you have to make a decision, you have non-negotiables. There are things that you just won’t settle, and that’s how I recruit, like the recruit, they have to find what they want, and let that guide them because we’re in the business of persuading people, and so coaches back then just try to persuade you to come to their school for this reason, the buildings. For me, it was the dorms that were the non-negotiable,” she added.
Staley talked about how she grew up in a household of seven family members, and she was the youngest of the five children. The 55-year-old detailed that the University of Virginia dorms suited her beyond her needs for their features and facilities, especially since she had to share bathrooms. Staley played for four seasons with the Cavaliers from 1988 to 1992.
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Dawn Staley led the Virginia Cavaliers to their lone NCAA championship game
In 1991, Dawn Staley led the Virginia Cavaliers to their only NCAA championship game run in that year’s national tournament.
They made it there by defeating the UConn Huskies by six points in the NCAA Final Four, 61-55, but were unable to translate that success into the winner-take-all game, losing to the Tennessee Volunteers in overtime, 70-67. Virginia has yet to reach the national title game since then.
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