Dawn Staley had not said a word, and yet the force of meaning behind what had just occurred was as clear as day.
In a post-game interview following South Carolina’s 87-75 win over Iowa Hawkeyes in the 2024 NCAA Women's Basketball championship game, the 53-year-old coach was asked a question.
She shook her head. The tears rolled down her face. She couldn't respond.
Amid the swirling storm of noise and clutter rollicking around women’s basketball and its newest starlet Caitlin Clark, Staley and her team had quietly gone about their business all tournament.
After losing to the Clark-led Iowa Hawkeyes in the Final Four last year - a loss that Staley admitted hit hard - South Carolina committed to enacting the perfect revenge: and that they did.
In front of an audience of 18 million viewers, the Gameco*cks rallied from an 11-point deficit in the first quarter to defeat Iowa and win their second NCAA crown in three years capped by a perfect 38-0 run.
South Carolina had always been the tournament favourites. As the No. 1 overall seed everything on paper pointed to the victory they eventually achieved but in the media flurry they somehow had got lost.
The winning moment was like a correction; a reminder of the order of things. And Staley, who had masterminded it with no standout star, but a squad composed of a completely new starting five at the beginning of the season, knew it.
Dawn Staley: A basketball career of greatness
To those familiar with Staley’s career, her becoming the fifth member of an elite circle to win three national women’s basketball titles is hardly surprising.
The Hall of Famer is in her fourth decade of basketball mastery.
As a player at Staley never won a national championship but she came close with Virginia several times - making three Final Four appearances and one national final. And while she wasn't quite able to clinch the ultimate prize, the point guard cleaned up elsewhere.
She earned two Naismith Trophies, two ACC Player of the Year Awards and was named the NCAA Tournament Most Oustanding Player in 1991 - the year the Cavaliers made the final.
Staley’s transition from the NCAA to the WNBA was seamless. While at the Charlotte Sting she earned four All-Star nods and made a WNBA Championship final. She would later earn a fifth All-Star crown with the Houston Comets.
Her time in the national team representing United States was similarly productive. Staley made three Olympic appearances for Team USA - at Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 - and won gold on each occasion. In Greece, she was the flag bearer and later named 2004 USA Basketball Female Athlete Of The Year.
In 2000, while playing in the WNBA Staley started her coaching career at Temple University. Under her guidance, she led the program to six NCAA tournaments, three regular-season conference championships, and four conference tournament titles.
Eight years later, she was then named head coach for the women’s basketball program at the University of South Carolina. Success wasn't imminent but each year there was growth and Staley was able to bed in her unique team culture.
In 2017, when the Gameco*cks won their first title, three squad members were subsequently drafted in the first round of the WNBA draft that year, a testament to the depth Staley had harvested and the patience and progress it took to get there.
That same year she was also named head coach of the USA women's basketball team and under her watch led the US to its seventh straight Olympic gold medal in Japan. Satisfied, and hungry for more college success, Staley handed the reins over to Cheryl Reeve to focus on her work at South Carolina.
Dawn Staley poses with gold medal winner A'ja Wilson at Tokyo 2020 in 2021
The Staley influence: from A’ja Wilson to Aliyah Boston
It is not just Staley’s resume that inspires. The talent she has shaped with her team-first philosophy speaks for itself.
The Gameco*ck’s coach’s first title came with A’ja Wilson and Allisha Gray leading as juniors in 2017.
Gray and Wilson are now figureheads in the WNBA with Wilson a two-time WNBA champion, two-time WNBA MVP and WNBA Final MVP (2023).
With everything Wilson had achieved for South Carolina and watching her flourish in the 'W' Staley petitioned for a statue of the 2018 WNBA No.1 Draft pick to be erected near the Colonial Life Arena.
At its unveiling, Staley, always a champion for her players, said: “A’ja was a powerful force in our program, our campus and our community through everything that she accomplished on the court and the person she was off it.
“This statue in front of this arena is an equally powerful force. Every young person, and especially young black girls, can see what is possible through hard work, passion and dedication.”
2023 No.1 Draft pick Aliyah Boston is similarly another example of a player who has thrived under Staley.
The former Gameco*ck, drafted first overall by the Indiana Fever, was a central piece of the coach’s side during her time at college, all but lifting South Carolina to their 2022 title.
The programs’s collapse against Iowa last year denied Boston the chance to go back-to-back, and Staley admitted after it was a primary motivator for the coach during the 2024 campaign. Boston may only just be getting started in the WNBA but in Staley, the 2023 Rookie of the Year, will have a mentor for life.
Dawn Staley: An icon of the game
On the court and the sidelines, Staley has underlined her credentials as a great but she has shown the force of her personality off it, too.
In addition to being widely regarded as a fashion icon for her string of enviable outfits the Gameco*cks’ coach has also used her platform to speak out widely on a range of issues, including the detainment of Brittney Griner, equal pay and racial justice.
Hers is a career unlike any others as the accolades all show, but perhaps the greatest indicator of her character away is the news of her plans following her undefeated title win.
A trip to Disney World is apparently on the cards for the coach, and then it's back to business. Again.
