At the end of Sunday night’s NCAA women’s basketball championship game, we all knew we had witnessed something special in Dawn Staley and her South Carolina Gamecocks team.
Not only did they hand Geno Auriemma and UConn their first-ever loss in an NCAA basketball championship game, but they also won their second title in program history.
But even more impressively, Staley became the only Black coach, male or female, to win multiple titles in NCAA D1 basketball. Only the late, great John Thompson came close to accomplishing that feat in 1985 but lost to Villanova.
Staley’s basketball resume is one of the most impressive in history, male or female.
NCAA Championship Coach (2017, 2022).
Two-time Naismith Coach of the Year (2020, 2022)
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer (2013).
Three-time Olympic Gold Medalist (1996, 2000, 2004).
Five-time WNBA All-Star (2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006).
WNBA All-Decade Team.
Two-time Naismith Trophy winner (1991, 1992).
National High School Player of the Year (1988).
And those are just a few of the accolades she’s accumulated in a basketball career spanning over four decades.
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