Dawn Staley’s name has been associated with U.S. basketball for over three decades. Not only is she one of the greatest basketball players of all time, but she has also coached top-tier basketball teams, recently picking up a gold medal for head coaching.
The north Philadelphia native began her athletic career in 1989. While attending the University of Virginia, where she graduated in 1992 with a bachelor’s degree in rhetoric and communication studies, she played for the women’s basketball team.
After graduation, she joined the senior national team. While playing for the U.S., she led the team to three Olympic gold medals in 1996, 2000, and 2004.
Over the course of her career as an athlete, she won a total of 10 gold medals, one bronze medal, and seven international invitational titles in the period of 1989 to 2004.
At the beginning of the 2000s, she transitioned into sports leadership when she received her first basketball coaching assignment from the Temple Owls.
Staley was named the University of South Carolina women's basketball head coach in 2008. She also helped the U.S. win gold as an assistant coach in 2008 and 2016, and the following year as head coach of the national team, thus making headlines as the first black woman to lead the team.
“I think I am masterful when it comes to knowing certain things on the floor, but that doesn’t make me a great coach. What makes me a great coach is I know how to meet people where they are to take them where they need to go.” she once explained.
Earlier this year, at the Tokyo Olympics, she led the U.S. women’s Olympic basketball team to win the gold medal.
When she is not coaching or playing, Staley gives back to the community. For instance, she founded the Dawn Staley Foundation, which provides an afterschool program and mentoring for at-risk children in Philadelphia to assist them in becoming productive, responsible adults. She also created another nonprofit called Innersole, which provides shoes to children in need.
Throughout her career, she has not only accomplished many feats as a basketball player, but has also stood out for her enthusiasm and intuitive sense of human relations within communities. She is without doubt an exemplary role model for many people.