Today In Black History
Dawn Staley, Award-winning Basketball Player and Coach
Issue #577 Today In Black History, Tuesday, April 23, 2024
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Today’s Black History WOW!
Dawn Staley was born on May 4, 1970, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is a former professional basketball player and current head coach of the University of South Carolina women's basketball team.
Staley won three Olympic gold medals with Team USA as a player and later was head coach of another U.S. gold-medal-winning team. Staley was elected to carry the United States flag at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Staley's basketball career began at Dobbins Technical High School in Philadelphia, where she quickly became a standout player. She went on to play college basketball at the University of Virginia, where she was a three-time All-American and led the Cavaliers to three Final Four appearances. She was drafted first overall by the Charlotte Sting in 1999.
During her WNBA career, Staley played for the Charlotte Sting, Houston Comets, and the Phoenix Mercury. She was a six-time All-Star and won three Olympic gold medals as a member of the USA Women's National Team.
In 2011, fans named Staley one of the top 15 players in WNBA history. Staley was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012. She was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.
After retiring as a player, Staley turned her focus to coaching. In 2008, she was named the head coach of the University of South Carolina women's basketball team. Staley quickly turned the struggling program around and under her leadership, the team has become a powerhouse in women's college basketball.
Staley has led South Carolina to eight SEC regular season championships, eight SEC tournament championships, eight Sweet Sixteens, five Final Fours, and three NCAA women's basketball national championships.
On April 2, 2020, Staley became the first person to win the Naismith Award as both a player and a coach. She also won the other three major National Coach of the Year awards after she led her team to a 32-win season and a final ranking of #1 in both major polls.
Staley served as the United States women's national team head coach from 2017 to 2021, finishing with a perfect 45–0 record, before returning full-time to South Carolina. In the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Staley won her first gold medal as head coach for Team USA, and fourth overall, winning all six games.
On April 7, 2024, she guided the #1 ranked Gamecocks to an undefeated 38–0 season, defeating Iowa 87–75 to win the team's third national title. Staley once again won National Coach of the Year honors.
Staley now heads the Dawn Staley Foundation, which gives middle-school children a positive influence in their lives by sponsoring an after-school program at the Hank Gathers Recreation Center. The Center focuses on academics and athletics and sponsors basketball leagues and other fund-raising activities.
A guiding principle Staley lives by is, "The disciplined person can do anything."
Today In Black History
In 1872, Charlotte E. Ray became the first African American female lawyer in the United States after graduating from the Howard University Law School.
In 1954, Hank Aaron hit the first of his eventual 755 home runs.
In 1965, the Four Tops released “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)”, which became the Billboard Song of the Year.
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