Staley's stature as a coach keeps growing

SIX YEARS AGO when Dawn Staley took over the women's basketball team at South Carolina, she was coming off a year in which her Temple team went 21-13, and 12-2 in the Atlantic 10. The first year as coach was the rough one, with the Gamecocks managing only two wins in the Southeastern Conference.

Now, the Gamecocks are a national power. They sit at 26-3 after yesterday's loss to No. 10 Tennessee and are ranked fourth in the nation by the Associated Press. Much of the quick turnaround can be credited to the Philadelphia native Staley, though she will deflect credit to her players.

"I think it is a combination of some things, our players committing and sacrificing their summer by coming to summer school for both sessions to start the year off," Staley said. "The team chemistry has allowed our leaders to lead at a time where there wasn't the pressures of playing a game, before the season."

South Carolina had a decent record last season, but it does not come close to this one; the Gamecocks went 25-8 overall, 11-5 in the daunting SEC. This season, they clinched the SEC with a 67-56 win over Georgia on Thursday night. And, even though yesterday's loss in their regular-season finale ended a 10-game winning streak, the Gamecocks still finished at 14-2 in the conference, their only other conference loss coming in January at Texas A&M in overtime.

"Our conference puts us in a position where we play some of the greatest competition across the nation, and we have risen to that occasion," Staley said. "I think part of it is luck, part of it is divine. You name it. Everything has played a part of us having the type of success we are having this year."

Each season Staley has been in Columbia, S.C., the Gamecocks have improved. They have gone from a 10-win team to most likely a 30-win team through the SEC and NCAA tournaments. She credits her personnel for the consistent improvement.

"It has been a steady incline in adding pieces every year," Staley said. "Going back and trying to right some wrongs. When you review a season, you try to figure out the things that worked and the things that didn't work. I think our coaching staff does a great job at working, trying to figure out what is the best approach to us having success, year in and year out."

Staley added: "We have a good staff, we have continuity on our staff. When you have that, and you add different pieces to your team each year, you get better. The things we were missing 6 or 5 years ago was talent. We've gotten more talented, and we've gotten better players who love basketball, and it's a pretty good combination between player and coach."

Staley is gaining national prominence as a coach this season. Only Wednesday, she was named as the head coach of the U.S. women's under-18 squad that will compete in the FIBA Americas championships this summer. She also is in line to be an assistant for the U.S. national team that will play in the World Championships this summer.

Yet even before that, she was an icon in Philadelphia. She grew up in North Philadelphia, starring at Murrell Dobbins Tech. Later, after playing for the University of Virginia and starring for the gold-medal-winning United States in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, she played for the Philadelphia Rage in the now-defunct American Basketball League. She eventually returned to Philadelphia in 2000 to take the reins at Temple, and said she believes her 8 years there, during which time the Owls made six NCAA Tournament appearances, shaped her into the coach she is today.

"Temple was a wonderful experience," Staley said. "It set the tone for the type of coach that I became. I thought they took a chance on me, giving me an opportunity to coach, knowing that I was still playing in the WNBA. They saw something in me that I really didn't see in myself, and that's the ability to work with 18- to 22-year-olds, and try to get the best out of them."

Staley accrued a 172-80 overall record with the Owls, including going 99-25 in the Atlantic 10 conference. While coaching Temple, she also was still playing in the WNBA for the Charlotte Sting, which drafted her ninth overall in the 1999 draft, and later the Houston Comets.

"I would call it the best of both worlds, because, on one hand, you have complete control of a game when you are a player and a point guard, to prepping a team to play, yet you really lose control over it, because you are not the one dribbling the ball or making the play," Staley said. "You are the one calling the plays and they can excuse it or not."

The competitive nature that kept Staley both playing and coaching is something she picked up growing up in Philadelphia. The sports atmosphere and the passion surrounding the area's sports teams shape a lot of young people, Staley being one of them.

"Anytime you come from Philly, sports are your livelihood," Staley said. "You grow up watching the Sixers, Eagles, Flyers and Phillies, every sports team that represents Philadelphia. It becomes your livelihood. You want to win at pretty much everything. It breeds competitiveness like no other. Me becoming a coach, I was no different."

Staley's passion for basketball comes across each time she steps on the court to coach. The passion has led her to some remarkable accomplishments already. Only 43, she already is in the Basketball Hall of Fame, having been inducted in 2013. She played two more Olympics after 1996; at Athens in 2004, she carried the U.S. flag at the opening ceremony.

Yet, one accomplishment comes to her mind that she has yet to reach.

"I'm not a national champion, so obviously I would love to be a part of a national championship team," Staley said. "Hopefully, I will experience it here at South Carolina."

Staley has the Gamecocks in a great position to check that off her to-do list.