This article is part of our special Women and Leadership feature which coincides with global events in March celebrating the achievements of women. This conversation has been edited and condensed.
As the coach of the University of South Carolina’s premier women’s basketball team, Dawn Staley is a dynamic leader in an era of growing global popularity in women’s sports. At 53, she’s a Hall of Fame point guard who led the United States to three Olympic gold medals as a player and one as a coach. And in her 16th year at South Carolina, Coach Staley just led the team to its second consecutive undefeated regular season. She is now seeking her third national collegiate title. A proud native of Philadelphia, Coach Staley is an outspoken advocate for gender and racial equity in sports and beyond.
Her secret to mentoring young people today? Honesty and discipline, lessons she learned from her mother.
You’re making a statement in your training wardrobe and a hoodie you recently wore said: “Everybody’s watching women’s sports.” What’s different now?
I just feel like there’s more access to our game. There is more demand. I think it’s okay to tell the stories of our game and the people in our game. I hope it’s not a fad. I don’t think it is. Because our game web is strong. She’s breaking out at all levels right now, not just collegiately, but in the WNBA, even in high school. The younger girls have grown up in the WNBA and during my time in college, we didn’t have that. We’re going to have a big hit when the Olympics roll around.
For the first time, there will be an equal number of male athletes at the Olympics. Are you surprised it took this long?
No I’m not. I think we’ve been delayed, on purpose, and the numbers and demand today prove it.
Have you ever caught yourself saying “back in my day” to your players?
No! They had no idea what my day was like.
Do they care?
No. This is all about them. It’s really okay. I understand. I’m so used to it. So this is all for me to meet them where they are. It changes every day.
The best leaders are the best communicators. How have you adapted your communication style over the decades?
I think I’m very consistent with who I am. As a youngster, I didn’t really talk. I was the youngest of five children, so I sat back and observed. As I grew older, I began to discover the things that needed to be said. I rule my life, being a leader, a coach, a colleague, about how something looks, feels and sounds. If something looks or sounds or feels wrong, I will say something. I can’t say anything. And then the same, if something looks, sounds or feels great, like, I give it the same energy on the other hand.
Enforcing discipline is central to your leadership. Did you get it from your mother, Estelle?
Absolutely. I’m more like my mother. As a child I loved her, but I didn’t like her because she was too strict. And it’s hard for young people to see what your parents are trying to protect you from.
How do you approach your leadership beyond the basketball court?
If young people come to play for you, you have to give them everything, give them their wants and needs. One of my former players, when she was on her official visit here, her mother was a little skeptical about South Carolina. If you look at the history books, you get a not-so-pleasant picture. Until you come visit. And then at the end of her visit, the mother actually said something that no other parent has said to me. But it’s the same thing that guides me, that allows me to have the stamina, that allows me to meet new people where they are and try to take them where they want to go. He said to me: “I give you my child.”
Whether I have to love them or show them some tough love on the journey, I’m ultimately keeping that line in perspective.
You are always generous in sharing credit. After your two national championships, you mailed clips from the net to other young black coaches. Why;
I feel like I’ve been put in a position where I owe basketball. So I’m really trying to pay off my debt. I want people to feel what I feel about basketball. The people I meet in men’s and women’s basketball tell me what I mean to them and what I mean to the game. I am inspired by their aspirations.
Beyond winning another championship, what aspirations do you have left?
I want to be the best dream trader I can be. That’s it, simply. I want all my players to check all their goals. I want our assistant coaches, if they want to become coaches, to check their goals. I do not want anything. Well, actually, I have a want. I want to go to the Hall of Fame as a coach.
Why is it so important to you?
Because you are one of the best. And that means you’ve impacted lives.
The Phoenix Club of Philadelphia presents the annual Dawn Staley Award for the top female guard in Division I. Caitlin Clark, who just passed Pete Maravich for the NCAA career scoring record, has won it three years in a row. How do you feel about that, especially since Clark’s Iowa team eliminated yours last year?
Well, I have a vote! In her first year, no one gave her credit. But Caitlin has been throwing up those numbers since freshman year. And you know, I like to do things differently. I almost like going against the mainstream and finding new people who are doing things quietly that don’t get the publicity they deserve.
So you knew. You had it first.
Absolutely. It’s not hard to see. He is a generational talent.
