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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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by Marilyn McManus, SECWB.com

At approximately 12 noon today, University of South Carolina President Andrew Sorensen presented a Gamecocks hat to Dawn Staley and welcomed her to the University family as the head coach of the women’s basketball team. Sorensen’s remarks followed a few words by Eric Hyman, Athletics Director at the school, who presented a short summary of Staley’s accomplishments from her high school career to the present. And those accomplishments are many: 172-80 record at Temple University in 8 seasons, 6 20-win seasons and 6 trips to the NCAA Tournament–all in her first attempt at coaching. A record of her accomplishments beyond that could fill pages, but I want to keep the focus on Coach Staley and the future of the South Carolina Gamecocks program.

The first surprise was when Coach Staley introduced 2 members of her coaching staff: Lisa Boyer and Carla McGhee. Boyer has spent several years working with Staley at Temple, but McGhee had coached at Auburn and served as Director of Player Personnel for the WNBA since a 1-year coaching stint with Staley at Temple, several years ago. Staley has not yet announced what other assistants or staff will be joining her at USC.

Staley’s introductory remarks stressed the challenge of this job and how she plans to meet the challenge. “Hard work” was mentioned more than once. Staley said that she was told that turning the program around would take time and that she was patient, “but not THAT patient.” Her goals match those of the USC administration and are that USC women’s basketball become a nationally prominent program and compete for a national championship. She said that her passion is basketball and young people and doing things “the right way.”

In response to reporters’ questions, she said that she had already met 5 members of the current Gamecocks team and that they were ready to get started and hungry for success. She admitted that leaving her hometown of Philadelphia was tough, for a lot of reasons, but that there are some positives to making the move and making it now. One of those is her mother’s health (she would have been here for the announcement, Dawn said, but she doesn’t like to fly) so the fact that there is extended family in the state is a plus. (Staley’s mother is from Swansea, SC and moved to Philadelphia when she was about 13 years old.) Staley said that she will have more help here, when she has to travel, with family able to help out with her mother.

Staley, when asked why she wanted to coach at South Carolina, replied “Why not?” She is looking forward to the challenge of coaching against some of the best coaches and teams in the country, in the Southeastern Conference. She said that she appreciated University of Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt, for agreeing to play against her Temple team, when other teams would not schedule them. She also said that Summitt is someone she can measure herself against as a coach and that she would like to build the same kind of program that Summitt has–only a little quicker. She said that her style of basketball is to press, 94 feet, and get after the other team–but initially, the main goal is to play to the strengths of our team. She assured that above all, they will play hard. She said that “it’s going to be great to see the end result.”

Staley described herself as an “odds beater” as someone who grew up in Philadelphia’s housing projects and has become a successful basketball player, coach, Olympic medalist and general role model. She said that while the Dawn Staley Foundation will continue to function in Philadelphia, she also plans to bring the same kind of services to South Carolina.

Interestingly, Staley mentioned that she never wanted to become a coach. She said that her assistant, Lisa Boyer, told her often that “you would be a great coach.” Her reply was, “I don’t want to be one of you.” But when Temple’s athletic director talked to her and framed it as a challenge–a challenge to turn the program around and a challenge of her own leadership–she took the challenge.

South Carolina is glad that she did.

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