by Marilyn McManus, SECWB.com
The University of South Carolina finally made it official, this morning, via a vote by the Board of Trustees: Dawn Staley is the new head coach for the women’s basketball team. The press conference to announce this “news” was held at noon; later this afternoon, Staley and 2 of her staff made themselves available for a “Meet and Greet” with season ticket holders and other interested fans and supporters.
The Frank McGuire Room in the basketball practice facility was filled beyond capacity and buzzing with anticipation when Coach Staley got there and began systematically greeting each person in the room, mostly with hugs. She then was introduced to the group by Associate Athletic Director Marcy Girton, after sharing some comments about Dawn from such basketball luminaries as Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer and former WNBA President Val Ackerman. She graciously acknowledged that, while U.S.C. is moving in a new direction now, the new work is being built on the foundation that was set in the past.
Staley repeated some of what she had shared at the press conference and then took questions from the group, before the networking/mingling began. She introduced her long-time assistant coach and friend, Lisa Boyer. She also shared that Boyer told her, as she was listening to the many accomplishments of Staley being read (yet again, this weekend) to the group, “I’m sick of you.” She recovered quickly, apparently, and it won’t stop her from serving as Staley’s top assistant at U.S.C. Boyer has spent several seasons with Staley at Temple, after serving as head coach of the Richmond/Philadelphia Rage of the ABL and an assistant coach with the Cleveland Rockers of the WNBA.
Also present was Carla McGhee, new to Staley’s staff, who is a graduate of the University of Tennessee and played with Dawn in the 1996 Olympics. McGhee also spent time playing professional basketball in the WNBA and abroad, coaching at Temple and Auburn and working as the Director of Player Personnel for the WNBA.
Staley insisted that she is not much of a talker, but that both Boyer and McGhee more than make up for her lack in that area. Each took the microphone to expound upon that a little bit and both appeared more than comfortable doing so. Boyer told the story of how Staley ended up becoming a coach at Temple University, despite having spent years insisting (to Boyer and others) that she had no interest in becoming “one of you.”
McGhee took some ribbing for being a product of the SEC’s Evil Empire, including a request to sing “Rocky Top” for the crowd. She got applause when she said that she will sing for us when she learns the words to U.S.C.’s fight song instead. She also insisted that her nickname is “Red” and her focus is the future success of the South Carolina Gamecocks women’s basketball team. McGhee loves the spotlight, obviously, and the fans liked hearing what she had to say. “I am a winner, it’s all I’ve ever been and it’s all I know how to do.” She also vowed to focus on the hard work ahead to bring U.S.C. women’s basketball to national prominence.
Staley said that she had met with several current players and has talked to most of the incoming class about keeping their commitment to U.S.C. A lot of concern had focused on Pennsylvania’s Becky Burke and Dawn said that she would be meeting her family tomorrow, but that she does believe that she is still on board and will be in a Gamecock uniform this fall. Staley vowed that her team will work very hard and will make the fans proud. One current Gamecock player was present and she said that she was excited, hopeful and a little scared about the changes at the top. A former player in attendance playfully asked if something could be arranged for her to return as a player. Those comments and many others describe the excitement and anticipation of those in attendance. The informal atmosphere and the easy, outgoing manner of the new coaching staff made everyone feel both welcomed and appreciated for being in attendance. There were some notable absences–most of the season ticket holders are familiar with each other, to some extent, and do recognize each other– and not unexpectedly. Nearly everyone in attendance had some kind of connection to the previous coaching staff, many of us were fond of some (if not all) of them and some considered them close friends. The loss was still too fresh for certain members of the fan base to come to a celebration of the new era, but the air of optimism and the new staff’s level of commitment to achieving excellence in women’s basketball should win them over, eventually. It should also bring back some of the fair-weather fans and result in some brand new ones.
Coach Staley knows that success breeds more success and she has known nothing but success in her career; there seems little doubt that it will continue at South Carolina. She’s won me over. I can’t wait to buy my season ticket.
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