On Friday October 15th, the University of South Carolina Womens Basketball Head Coach Dawn Staley received a contract extension that will make her the highest paid African American coach in womens basketball. The deal is worth $22.4 million over seven years, and includes a $2.9 million salary for the upcoming 2021/22 season, which amounts to an $800 thousand raise over what Staley was expected to make in the final year of her existing contract. The contract extension also puts her tied with UConn Head Coach Geno Auriemma for highest paid womens basketball coaches. The unusually high price tag is a well earned prize for Dawn Staley who quietly built South Carolina into a national powerhouse, and most recently coached Team USA to its 7th consecutive Gold Medal during the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Prior to her arrival at South Carolina, Dawn Staley spent eight seasons coaching Temple University from the 2000/01 season through the 2007/08 season. During that stretch, Staley coached the Owls to the NCAA Tournament six times, won the Atlantic Ten Conference Regular Season title three times (2004, 2005, 2008), and the Atlantic Ten Conference Tournament title four times (2002, 2004-2006). She was also a two-time Atlantic Ten Conference Coach of the Year (2004, 2005). Staley’s overall record with the Owls in those eight seasons was 172-80 (99-25 against conference opponents).
Dawn Staley was an under-the-radar hire for South Carolina who were impressed by her coaching record at Temple. Staley’s first three seasons at South Carolina were tough. For the 2008/09 season, Staley’s first at the helm, the Gamecocks went 10-18 (2-12 against conference opponents), which was bad enough for an 11th place finish in the SEC. In Staley’s second season, the Gamecocks saw slight improvement in the 2009/10 season as they went 14-15 (7-9 against conference opponents) for a 7th place finish in the SEC. In the 2010/11 season, year three of the Dawn Staley era, South Carolina went 18-15 (8-8 against conference opponents) and finished 5th in the SEC. It was the 3rd straight season under Dawn Staley in which the Gamecocks missed out on the NCAA Tournament. Things would take a dramatic shift upwards in the 2011/12 season as Staley led the Gamecocks to a 25-10 record (10-6 against conference opponents), for a 4th place finish in the SEC, and an NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearance in her fourth season with the Gamecocks. This would become the first of many NCAA Tournament appearances for Staley and the Gamecocks.
In her 13 seasons with the Gamecocks, Staley has taken the team to three Final Fours, and led the Gamecocks to victory over the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the 2017 National Championship Game for their first title in program history. The Gamecocks have also won the SEC regular season title five times (2014-2017, 2020), and the SEC tournament title six times (2015-2018, 2020, 2021) under the direction of Dawn Staley. Dawn Staley was involved in a historic SEC Championship Game in 2021 that featured an all-black head coaching matchup. It was the first time that happened in the history of the SEC womens title game with Staley’s Gamecocks prevailing over Joni Taylor’s Georgia Bulldogs. Staley’s overall record with the Gamecocks is 331-103 (152-54 against SEC opponents).
Staley was hired to take over head coaching duties for Team USA in 2017 replacing Geno Auriemma who had coached the team from 2009-2016. She is 45-0 during her time in charge of the national team, and led the women to their 7th straight Gold at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games.
Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks will tip-off their 2021/22 season against the North Carolina State Wolfpack on November 9th.
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