Temple University Athletics
Dawn Staley Named Women's Basketball Coach At South Carolina
5.10.08 | Women's Basketball
May 10, 2008
PHILADELPHIA - Dawn Staley, who guided the Temple women's basketball team to 172 wins and six NCAA Tournament appearances in eight seasons as the University, was named the women's basketball head coach at South Carolina today at a media conference in Columbia, S.C.
"Dawn Staley has had a strong record at Temple University: A win-loss record of 172-80, six NCAA appearances and four A-10 titles. We wish her the best at South Carolina," said Temple University Director of Athletics Bill Bradshaw.
The three-time Olympic gold medalist amassed six seasons of 20 or more wins and became Temple's all-time winningest coach with a 172-80 record. She was twice named A-10 Coach of the Year (2004, 2005) and was the 2005 WBCA Region 1 Coach of the Year. Staley led the Owls to their first A-10 Tournament title in school history in just her second season (2001-02). Temple went on to become just the second team in A-10 history to collect three straight conference tournament titles, winning the event in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Since the A-10 went to a single division schedule in 2005-06, the Owls have never finished lower than third, including 2007-08 when they shared the regular-season title with George Washington.
In addition to her coaching duties at Temple, Staley has been a member of the USA Basketball staff since February 2006 and will continue to serve through the 2008 Olympics. She helped the team to a gold medal at the 2007 FIBA World Championships in Chile after the team won bronze at the event in 2006. Staley served as the head coach at the 2007 Pan American Games where the U.S. won its first gold medal since 1987 and served as an assistant coach for the silver medal winning team in the Good Luck Beijing Tournament, held in Beijing, China in mid-April.
A 1992 graduate of the University of Virginia, Staley helped the Cavaliers to a 110-21 record and four NCAA Tournament appearances. She was part of three Final Four teams in her career and sparked UVa's runner-up finish in 1991. A two-time National Player of the Year (1991, 1992) and three-time Kodak All-American, she was the ACC Player of the Year in 1991 and 1992. Staley was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in April 2008.
Staley continued her professional playing career even after being named head coach at Temple in April 2000. Her professional career began in 1992 and included three years playing in France, Italy, Brazil and Spain before she returned to the United States to help the Richmond Rage to the ABL finals in 1996-97. A two-time ABL All-Star, Staley made the move to the WNBA in 1999, going to the Charlotte Sting as the No. 9 pick in the draft. Playing eight years in the league, she was voted an All-Star five times and earned a spot on the league's All-Decade Team.
Also representing the United States in international competitions during that time, Staley collected three Olympic Gold Medals (1996, 2000, 2004). She is one of just three American women to earn three consecutive Olympic basketball gold medals. At the 2004 Games in Athens, Greece, she carried the United States flag in the opening ceremonies and went on to lead the team to a perfect 8-0 record. The effort delivered her second USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year award.
In her hometown of Philadelphia and around the country, Staley is known as much for her philanthropy as her basketball prowess. Beginning in 2007, the WNBA annually presents the Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award to the player who best exemplifies the characteristics of a leader in the community in which she works or lives. Staley heads the Dawn Staley Foundation, which is aimed at giving inner-city children positive input by sponsoring after-school programs, a three-hour focus on academics and athletics at the Hank Gathers Recreation Center, as well as summer leagues and fundraising activities.
In 2005, Staley was presented with Philadelphia's prestigious Wanamaker Award, presented annually to the athlete, team or organization that has done the most to reflect credit upon Philadelphia and to the team or sport in which they excel. The only woman to ever win the award, she is just the third individual to win the award twice. Staley received the Henry P. Iba Citizenship Award in 2007. The honor is bestowed annually by the Rotary Club of Tulsa to the male and female athlete who has excelled in both his/her sport and in service to others.
