South Carolina Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley has done it all—National Championships, Final Fours, No. 1 rankings, SEC regular-season and tournament titles, SEC Players of the Year, National Players of the Year, WNBA No. 1 Draft pick, and No. 1 recruiting classes.
Under her leadership, the Gamecocks have become a powerhouse and remain strong contenders for this year’s championship title despite the recent upset to the UConn Huskies.
Dawn Staley Gives Insight Into Her Childhood
In addition to her success on the court, Staley recognized the impact of her upbringing and how it is lacking in families these days.
In an interview with Michael Garvais on the “Finding Mystery” podcast, which was posted on YouTube on August 4, 2021, Staley described how her mother prevented her from straying while she was growing up.
“Here’s what is missing in homes today that I had in my home,” Staley explained. “I was more scared of my mother than anybody on earth. So, when you fear your parents, you’re not going to stray.
“When you’re out of their sight, you’re not going to stray from the very things that they taught you in our household because you don’t wanna make them look bad,” Staley continued. “You don’t want a beating. You don’t want to break the sanctity of what the Stanley family was all about.”
Staley also described her mother as a woman of few words. Her facial expressions would tell exactly what she felt at the moment. As a result, Staley learned to know when she crossed the line from her mother’s expressions, which helped her learn to observe her surroundings.
Staley on Naismith Coach of the Year Watchlist
Staley was recently named one of the 15 coaches for the 2025 Naismith Coach of the Year late-season watch list.
She made the list as the only four-time winner in the award’s history for men’s or women’s basketball. She also made NCAA history by becoming the second coach of all time to lead her team to multiple 40-game win streaks after South Carolina women’s basketball opened the season with five wins that stretched their streak to a program-record 43 games.
This season, South Carolina is 23-3 overall this season, including winning 12 games against ranked opponents.
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Other notable names on the watchlist include Geno Auriemma (UConn), Cori Close (UCLA), Lindsay Gottlieb (USC), Niele Avey (Notre Dame), Kim Mulkey (LSU), and Vic Schaefer (Texas).
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