It’s impossible to talk about the South Carolina Gamecocks without talking about Dawn Staley. She’s poured her soul and character into that program, and it’s now an extension of herself.
However, things could’ve been very different. Back in 2005, when she was coaching a Temple Owls team that would eventually go undefeated, she was a sought-after commodity in the college basketball scene.
Apparently, she was pretty close to joining the SEC earlier than she did, as the Alabama Crimson Tide wanted her to take the reins of their program two decades ago.
Dawn Staley almost coached Alabama
“Alabama came after me first in 2005,” Staley wrote in her “Uncommon Favor” book. “I visited the campus. I liked the athletic director. But I couldn’t see myself living in Alabama.”
Head coach Dawn Staley of the South Carolina Gamecocks
Fortunately for Gamecocks fans, she eventually chose to stay at Temple for another three years before eventually heading back to South Carolina, where her family was from:
“I was drawn to the fact that USC was part of the SEC and its storied legacy in women’s basketball,” the coach continued. “Pat Summitt was in this league, Andy Landers, Melanie Balcomb, all these legendary coaches. I was looking to refine my skills, rise to compete with the best. The cherry on top was that my parents were originally from South Carolina.”
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Ultimately, Staley took the reins of the program and turned it into an absolute powerhouse. Multiple NCAA championships later, the rest is history, and she will go down as the greatest coach in Gamecocks’ history.
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