Dawn of a New Era

For decades, the consensus was that Gino Auriemma was the elite coach of NCAA Women’s Basketball; there was no equal.

After today’s national championship game, Dawn Staley led the South Carolina Gamecocks to victory over the Iowa Hawkeyes and Caitlin Clark, arguably the best player in the history of the college game. For Coach Staley, it is South Carolina’s third NCAA Title in 7 years – her second coming against Auriemma’s UConn Huskies back in 2022.

It appears Gino has some company!

I took some time to learn more about Coach Staley; I had heard the high praise around her name for a long time, but since basketball has always been a passive interest in the winter due to my love of wrestling, I didn’t know much about her. Here are some lessons I learned from reading up on this incredible coach and woman.

LESSON ONE: BRING YOUR OWN BALL

Growing up in North Philly as the youngest of five siblings, Dawn learned to be scrappy at an early age. Girls in her neighborhood didn’t play basketball with the boys, and she was often the butt of insults such as “Go put on a skirt” or “You need to be in a kitchen somewhere.” But she made sure to bring her own ball – and she spoke up and made it a rule that if her ball was used, she had to play. For her, it was all about fighting for respect. Soon enough, her game spoke loudly enough that it didn’t take her bringing a ball to get picked be among the 10 on the court on a given day. From standout at the University of Virginia, to winning three gold medals for Team USA, to a 10 year WNBA professional basketball career where she was a 6-Time All Star, her game has been respected wherever she has graced a court.

LESSON TWO: GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE

When Coach Staley was a student at the University of Virginia, she felt uncomfortable being a woman of color in a predominantly white setting. She tried to focus on basketball and stay quiet, but felt isolated and didn’t know who to talk with. After a meeting with a Dean, she was given the advice: “Growth Takes Place Outside Your Comfort Zone.” She applied that advice - along with her competitiveness - to her academics, and it elevated her to success. The once quiet young woman graduated with a degree in Rhetoric and Communication Studies. At South Carolina, Coach Staley deliberately takes a cold, clinical approach to the first-years. She wants them to be uncomfortable, because college is new, and adjusting to the “new normal” challenges you to move away from your comfort zone.

LESSON THREE: THE 24 HOUR RULE

In the 1991 National Championship Game, Dawn Staley had the final shot and rebound to win the game – but missed. It was a heartbreaking loss, and it took her forever to get over it; she re-watched it and relived it repeatedly – almost to the extent that she felt like giving up the game. In 2015, the Gamecocks felt a similar sting – a one point loss in the 2015 Final Four Game against Notre Dame. Suddenly, her past had become the present. She didn’t want a repeat of her pain, so she implemented The 24 hour rule: 24 hours from a win or a loss, we move on. “You have to learn the steps of becoming a national champion, and one of those steps is losing. Momentum doesn’t need to be positive, you could end up having momentum to keep losing. And so, you got 24 Hours to bask in your victory or you got 24 Hours to agonize over your defeat.”

The 24 Hour Rule has proven to be gold for the Gamecocks. In the 2021 Final Four they suffered another heartbreaking one point loss. In 2022, the message of individual sacrifice for the good of the team was the consistent chorus, and South Carolina end their season hoisting their second national championship trophy after defeating UConn. The same script played out in 2023 and 2024: the heartbreaking loss to Iowa in the 2023 Final Four was avenged today.

I am grateful for having learned more about this amazing woman and coach. Congratulations to Coach Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks on their National Championship - and the Dawn of a new era in college basketball!