Dawn Staley

Dawn Staley: Biography in Details

Who is Dawn Staley?

Dawn Staley is an American basketball Hall of Fame player and coach.

She is a three-time Olympian & was elected to carry the US flag at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics. In 2011, Staley was voted in by fans as one of the Top 15 players in WNBA history.

She was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.

Who are the parents of Dawn Staley?

Dawn Staley was born Dawn Michelle Staley on May 4, 1970, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. As of 2023, her age is 53 years old. Her nationality is American and her ethnicity is All-American.

Her mother’s name is Estelle and her father’s name is Clarence Staley. Other than this, nothing much is known about her family.

Education, School/College University

Dawn Staley was named the national high school player of the year during her final season at Murrell Dobbins Tech High School in Philadelphia.

Staley attended the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia.

During her 4 seasons in college, she led her team to 4 NCAA Tournaments, 3 Final Fours & 1 National Championship game. Dawn Staley was named the ACC Female Athlete of the year and the national player of the year in 1991 & 1992.

Dawn Staley: Professional Life, Career

In 1994-1995, after graduation, Dawn Staley began playing professional basketball in France, Italy, Brazil, and Spain before joining the ABL and then the WNBA.

She joined the Richmond Rage of the ABL in 1996 and led the team to the ABL Finals in 1997. She was named to the 1996-1997 All-ABL first team and the All-ABL second team, the following season.

In the 1999 WNBA Draft, Charlotte Sting was selected with the ninth overall pick, Staley. In 2001, she led the Sting to the Championship game of the WNBA playoffs.

On August 1, 2005, Dawn Staley was traded to the Houston Comets. She announced before the start of the WNBA season that she would be retiring after the Comets season was over.

Staley played on USA Basketball Women’s Junior National Team. The team participated in the second Junior World Championship. The USA team finished in seventh place. She played in the team representing the USA at the World University Games in July 1991.

While the USA team had won gold in 1983, they finished with silver in 1985, in fifth place in 1987, & did not field a team in 1989. She competed with USA Basketball as a member of the 1992 Jones Cup Team that won the Gold. She played for Team USA throughout her career.

In 1994 Staley competed in the World Championships and was named the USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year.

Dawn Staley led the 1996 team to the gold medal at the Olympic games in Atlanta and was a member of the 2000 Olympic team that defended the gold medal.

Staley was named to the USA national team in 1998. The national team traveled to Berlin, Germany in July and August 1998 for the FIBA World Championships and then held on to win the gold.

In 2002, Dawn Staley was named to the national team which competed in the World Championships. The USA team won all nine games, including a close title game against Russia. She won a third gold medal with Team USA at the 2004 Games in Athens and was named 2004 USA Basketball Female Athlete Of The Year.

Dawn Staley had no interest in coaching when she was initially approached by the athletic director of Temple. She was on the Olympic team at the time. Staley initially resisted offers to become the coach. She was still playing in the WNBA & her friends told her it would be impossible to continue to play & coach.

That challenge convinced her she should try so she accepted the position of head coach at Temple University. In her first season, 2000–01, Temple advanced to the WNIT.

In 2001, 2002, and 2004, her teams won the Atlantic 10 tournament to qualify for the NCAA tournament. During the 2004–05 season, her Owls lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Dawn Staley reached the 100 win plateau in the A-10 Semifinals vs Xavier University that season, becoming the fastest coach in women’s basketball to achieve that. On May 7, 2008, it was confirmed by Temple University that Staley would leave Temple for the University of South Carolina.

In 2016-17, the Gamecocks again repeated as SEC regular-season & tournament champions, & advanced to the second Final Four in school history. They won the first national title in school history. She became the second African American to lead a women’s basketball team to a national championship.

Under her, the program captured 4 SEC regular-season championships, 3 SEC tournament titles, 1 Final Four, 1 NCAA National Championship, 3 sweet 16 appearances, 4 SEC player of the year awards & 3 SEC freshman of the year awards.

Dawn Staley herself was awarded SEC coach of the year 3 times & Basketball Times Coach of the Year in 2014. Dawn served as an assistant coach for the USA National Team in the 2006, and 2008 Summer Olympic Games.

During the 2007 Pan Am Games, she served as head coach to U17 Team in 2014 & U19 Team in 2015, winning gold medals at the U18 Americas Championship & the U19 FIBA World Championship.

The USA basketball organization awarded her the code national coach of the year award. She served as an assistant coach for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. On March 10, 2017, she was named head coach of the USA National team.

Staley led the Gamecocks to their second national title on April 3, 2022, with a 64–49 triumph against UConn, concluding the season 35–2 and atop both major polls for the entire season. Staley would win the Naismith Award for the top coach in the country again in 2022.

What is Dawn Staley’s Net Worth?

This player has an annual salary of $300k. Dawn Staley has a net worth of $1 million as of 2023.

Rumors and Controversy

There are not many significant rumors and controversies surrounding her. Dawn Staley has, thus, managed to keep her public image clean.

Body Measurements: Height, Weight

Dawn Staley has a height of 5 feet 4 inches. Her body weighs 61kg. She has black hair and black eyes.

Social Media

Dawn Staley is active on social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. She has more than 104.9k followers on Twitter, over 74.6k followers on Instagram, and 10k followers on Facebook.

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Dawn Staley's Birthday Dates