|
|
USC Hires Staley As Women's Coach
Wednesday, May 07, 2008 - 04:32 PM
Temple's Dawn Staley has been tabbed to guide the Lady Gamecocks.
Email a Friend
digg it
Printer Friendly
Sphere IT
Save This Page
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Three-time Olympic gold medalist Dawn Staley will be named the head coach of the women's basketball
program at the University of South Carolina, subject to the approval of the University's Board of Trustees, it was announced today.
One of the most decorated participants in United States women's basketball history, Staley comes to the Gamecocks after eight
seasons at Temple University where she led the Owls to four Atlantic 10 Tournament titles, six NCAA appearances and the program's
first national ranking.
The University's executive committee will meet Saturday morning, with a press conference to formally introduce Coach Staley
tentatively scheduled for noon at the Frank McGuire Room in the basketball practice facility.
Just eight seasons into her head coaching career, Staley 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 (2002).
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 Geathers Recreations 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.
Dawn Staley File
Born: May 4, 1970
Hometown: Philadelphia, Pa.
High School: Dobbins Tech, 1989
College: University of Virginia, 1992
Coaching Experience:
- Temple University, head coach, 2000-08
- U.S. National Team, assistant coach, 2006-present
- Pan American Games Team, head coach, 2007
Playing Experience:
- Dobbins Tech, 1985-89 (1989 USA Today National High School Player of the Year)
- University of Virginia, 1989-92 (Three-time Kodak All-American, 1991 and 1992 National Player of the Year, 1991 and 1992
ACC Player of the Year, 1989 ACC Rookie of the Year)
- Various international teams, 1992-94
- ABL, Richmond/Philadelphia Rage, 1997-98 (Two-time All-Star)
- WNBA, Charlotte Sting, 1999-2005, and Houston Comets, 2005-06 (Five-time All-Star)
- USA Basketball, 1994-2004 (1994 World Championships, Goodwill Games, USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year; 1996
Olympic Gold Medal; 2000 Olympic Gold Medal; 2002 World Championships; 2004 Olympic Gold Medal, USA Basketball
Female Athlete of the Year)
Head Coaching Year-by-Year Breakdown
Year Overall A-10 A-10 Finish Postseason
2000-01 19-11 11-5 2nd East WNIT
2001-02 20-11 12-4 2nd East A-10 Tournament Champion/NCAA
2002-03 14-15 9-7 2nd East
2003-04 21-10 14-2 1st East A-10 Tournament Champion/NCAA
2004-05 28-4 16-0 1st East* A-10 Tournament Champion/NCAA
2005-06 24-8 12-4 3rd A-10 Tournament Champion/NCAA
2006-07 25-8 13-1 2nd NCAA
2007-08 21-13 12-2 t-1st NCAA
Career 172-80 99-25
*Final season of divisional play
-- www.GamecocksOnline.com --
program at the University of South Carolina, subject to the approval of the University's Board of Trustees, it was announced today.
One of the most decorated participants in United States women's basketball history, Staley comes to the Gamecocks after eight
seasons at Temple University where she led the Owls to four Atlantic 10 Tournament titles, six NCAA appearances and the program's
first national ranking.
The University's executive committee will meet Saturday morning, with a press conference to formally introduce Coach Staley
tentatively scheduled for noon at the Frank McGuire Room in the basketball practice facility.
Just eight seasons into her head coaching career, Staley 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 (2002).
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 Geathers Recreations 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.
Dawn Staley File
Born: May 4, 1970
Hometown: Philadelphia, Pa.
High School: Dobbins Tech, 1989
College: University of Virginia, 1992
Coaching Experience:
- Temple University, head coach, 2000-08
- U.S. National Team, assistant coach, 2006-present
- Pan American Games Team, head coach, 2007
Playing Experience:
- Dobbins Tech, 1985-89 (1989 USA Today National High School Player of the Year)
- University of Virginia, 1989-92 (Three-time Kodak All-American, 1991 and 1992 National Player of the Year, 1991 and 1992
ACC Player of the Year, 1989 ACC Rookie of the Year)
- Various international teams, 1992-94
- ABL, Richmond/Philadelphia Rage, 1997-98 (Two-time All-Star)
- WNBA, Charlotte Sting, 1999-2005, and Houston Comets, 2005-06 (Five-time All-Star)
- USA Basketball, 1994-2004 (1994 World Championships, Goodwill Games, USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year; 1996
Olympic Gold Medal; 2000 Olympic Gold Medal; 2002 World Championships; 2004 Olympic Gold Medal, USA Basketball
Female Athlete of the Year)
Head Coaching Year-by-Year Breakdown
Year Overall A-10 A-10 Finish Postseason
2000-01 19-11 11-5 2nd East WNIT
2001-02 20-11 12-4 2nd East A-10 Tournament Champion/NCAA
2002-03 14-15 9-7 2nd East
2003-04 21-10 14-2 1st East A-10 Tournament Champion/NCAA
2004-05 28-4 16-0 1st East* A-10 Tournament Champion/NCAA
2005-06 24-8 12-4 3rd A-10 Tournament Champion/NCAA
2006-07 25-8 13-1 2nd NCAA
2007-08 21-13 12-2 t-1st NCAA
Career 172-80 99-25
*Final season of divisional play
-- www.GamecocksOnline.com --