When the United States Basketball Women’s National Team attempts to win a seventh consecutive gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, there will be someone new at the helm.
Replacing Geno Auriemma will be Dawn Staley, currently the head coach of the women’s basketball team at South Carolina. Several USA Basketball luminaries descended on Columbia for the big announcement in the form of a Friday press conference held at the University of South Carolina campus.
Staley was also an assistant under Auriemma.
She also has extensive international basketball experience as a player. Staley was part of the 1996, 2000, and 2004 gold medal-winning Olympic teams.
As a head coach, Staley has established an illustrious career at South Carolina in terms of sending players to the WNBA—the most recent of which being Tiffany Mitchell now with the Indiana Fever.
The Gamecocks are also one of the premier women’s basketball programs in the country as they last made it to the Final Four in 2014-15.
It means a great deal to me to represent my country, to wear the red, white, and blue.
–Dawn Staley
Staley said that when she got the call she would be succeeding Auriemma as the head coach, she was overjoyed, but didn’t want to show any level of overexuberance given she was taking in quarterfinal games of the SEC women’s basketball tournament.
When I got the call, I was actually at the SEC tournament watching our quarterfinal game. I was elated, but calm and I didn’t want to bring any attention to it—but I was shocked. It was a surreal moment.
She praised the idea of having a group of coaches that she could rely on that would help her along the way. In addition, Staley mentioned that while the women’s national team has a plethora of talented players (both on a national and international level), how they prepare is what sets them apart from the competition.
I think we’re the most talented team assembled at any Olympic Games, but what separates us is our preparation.
Staley also dropped some light wit at the presser to, joking that while none of her South Carolina players have asked her about open spots on the Olympic team…
I’ll put them through an ‘Olympic practice’ later on today [Friday] and see if they can survive.
(Video Credit: University of South Carolina Athletics)
By: Akiem Bailum (@AkiemBailum on Twitter, Instagram)
