Dawn Staley is the head coach for the South Carolina Gamecocks, as well as a four-time Olympic gold medalist. | Wikimedia Commons/MysticDjinn
Dawn Staley is the head coach for the South Carolina Gamecocks, as well as a four-time Olympic gold medalist. | Wikimedia Commons/MysticDjinn
University of South Carolina's Gamecocks women’s basketball head coach, Dawn Staley, has been crowned USA Basketball National Co-Coach of the Year.
The recognition is the third time for Staley, after receiving the title in 2015 and 2018. The honor comes for both coaches after their teams won gold for USA Basketball in the 2021 Olympics.
“It's an honor to be recognized by USA Basketball and even more so to share this award with Gregg Popovich,” Staley said, according to Gamecocks Online. “I got the best of both worlds this year with the AmeriCup team of college players and the Olympic team, who both came in with a team-first mentality that was fun to coach and help them to gold medals.”
This isn’t the first gold title for Staley, as she led the team to its record-tying back-to-back Olympic gold medals and also paved the way for the 2021 FIBA AmeriCup gold medalist team. There, she guided a team of college athletes against vetted opponents to a 6-0 record on the way to their gold medal, which allowed the U.S. women to take the spot in the 2022 FIBA World Cup Qualifying Tournament.
“Leading an Olympic team on the cusp of history was a responsibility I took to heart, and I appreciate the players who embraced the way we wanted to play and did what they had to in order to continue that Olympic streak,” Staley said, according to Gamecocks Online.
Staley has coached for 21 seasons with 11 of those resulting in 25 wins.
“USA basketball has always been like utopia for me because it creates an environment where it doesn’t really matter what you’ve done personally in your career,” Staley told Gamecocks Online. “You set all of that aside for one common goal, and that is to win a gold medal. To be part of the coaching staff there now feels like the natural progression for me. I’ve given a lot to USA Basketball, and USA Basketball has given a lot back to me. I would do anything to ensure that our country is successful, because other countries are catching up. It’s in my blood to be part of USA Basketball.”
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