Dawn Staley is a three-time Olympic gold medalist and Head Coach of the University of South Carolina Women's Basketball. One of the most decorated participants in United States women's basketball history, Staley joined the USC Gamecocks after eight seasons at Temple University where she led the Owls to four Atlantic 10 Tournament titles, six NCAA Tournament appearances and the program's first national ranking. Staley left Temple as the winningest coach in its women's basketball history, earning WBCA Region 1 Coach of the Year honors and being named Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year.
Staley has been on the coaching staff of USA Women’s Basketball since 2006, and helped the team win gold at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing in her role as assistant coach.
As a player, Staley earned many accolades from her being named USA Today's National High School Player of the year in 1988, to leading her University of Virginia team to three trips to the NCAA Final Four, to earning a spot on ESPN.com's "Top Players of the Past 25 Years." In April 2008, she was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.
Staley played with USA Basketball for 15 years beginning as a member of the 1989 Junior World Championship Team. Her collection of 10 gold medals and one bronze on the world stage is highlighted by Olympic gold medals in 1996, 2000 and 2004, the year that she was elected to carry the US flag in the Opening Ceremony of the Summer Olympics. Dawn also played in the ABL beginning in 1996, switching to the WNBA, where she was named to the league’s All-Decade Team and appeared in five All-Star games.
Staley founded The Dawn Staley Foundation to create a future of hope for at-risk youth by providing opportunities that help them realize their dreams and become productive and responsible citizens. The Foundation’s After School Programs targets middle school girls, providing education and life skills training to become productive and proactive community leaders. Following her retirement from the WNBA, the league began awarding the Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award in 2007, honoring the player who best exemplifies the characteristics of a leader in the community in which she works or lives.
Dawn holds a Bachelor of Arts in rhetoric and communication studies from University of Virginia.