Dawn Staley is the head coach of the South Carolina Gamecocks and a member of the American Basketball Hall of Fame.

She is known for winning three Olympic gold medals as a player for Team USA and later serving as head coach of another gold medal-winning American team.

Parents of Dawn Stanley

Clarence and Estelle Staley, Dawn Stanley’s parents, moved to North Philadelphia from South Carolina when they were teenagers in the 1950s.

They married young and moved into a three-bedroom, one-bathroom townhouse in 1967, where they raised five children: three boys, Lawrence, Anthony and Eric, and two girls, Tracey and Dawn.

She now runs the Dawn Staley Foundation, which helps middle school students by sponsoring an after-school program at the Hank Gathers Recreation Center.

The center emphasizes academics and athletics and hosts basketball leagues and other fundraisers.

Champ, her Havanese dog, has his own Twitter account and frequently visits the offices.

Career of Dawn Stanley

During her senior year at Murrell Dobbins Tech High School in Philadelphia, Staley was named the national high school player of the year.

Staley received his bachelor’s degree in rhetoric and communications from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia.

She led her college team to four NCAA tournaments, three Final Fours and one national championship game in four seasons.

She was named ACC Female Athlete of the Year and National Player of the Year in 1991 and 1992. Staley finished her college career with 2,135 points and 454 steals, which set an NCAA record.

Staley was named to the USA Basketball junior national team. The team competed in the second World Junior Championships in Bilbao, Spain in July 1989.

The American team lost its first match in overtime against South Korea before losing by two points to Australia. After beating Bulgaria, Team USA lost to Czechoslovakia in another close game, this time by three points.

Following this defeat, the team defeated Zaire before losing to Spain by three points in their final match.

Staley was second on the team with 10.8 points per game and 14 steals. The Americans finished seventh in the tournament.

Dawn Staley worked as an assistant coach for the United States national team in 2006, when the team was in a period of transition.

Lisa Leslie, who had led the team at the 2004 Olympics, 2002 World Championships, 2000 Olympics, 1998 World Championships and 1996 Olympics, was no longer a member of the team .

Staley was transitioning from player to coach, and Sheryl Swoopes was available but hampered by injuries. Freshmen Sue Bird, Candace Parker and Diana Taurasi took over, but it was a team in transition.

An additional challenge was that some team members were unable to attend practices due to WNBA commitments.

Dawn Stanley Awards and Honors

Throughout her playing and coaching career, Dawn Stanley has won several awards. These awards include national and international awards. These awards include:

Winner of the 1991 Honda Sports Award for basketball
1991 WBCA Player of the Year
1991 Naismith College Player of the Year
1991 USBWA National Women’s Player of the Year
1991 Honda Broderick Cup winner in all sports
Winner of the 1992 Honda Sports Award for basketball
1992 WBCA Player of the Year
1992 Naismith College Player of the Year
1992 USBWA National Women’s Player of the Year
2008 Virginia Sports Hall of Fame
2012 inductee into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
Order Palmetto 2013
2014 SEC Coach of the Year
2015 SEC Assistant Coach of the Year

2016 SEC Coach of the Year
2017: Omicron Delta Kappa Faculty/Staff at the University of South Carolina
2020 SEC Coach of the Year
2020 Naismith College Coach of the Year
2020 USBWA National Coach of the Year