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After the 2007-08 season, Dawn Staley left Temple University in her native Philadelphia and was appointed head coach of the South Carolina women's basketball team.
Staley has taken the Gamecocks program to unprecedented heights since more than a decade, leading South Carolina to three national titles during her tenure.
Staley revealed in her new book No Common Favors that another SEC school expressed interest in her in 2005.
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Dawn Staley of Gamecocks, South Carolina, plays Iowa Hawkeye in the National Championship Game on April 7, 2024 in Cleveland. (Photo by Ben Solomon/NCAA via Getty Images)
“Alabama first followed me in 2005,” Staley wrote.
She coached at Temple when she approached Alabama. The Owls ended the 2004-05 season with a record of 28-4 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championship.
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When Staley attended the same meeting with Crimson Tide, she thought South Carolina would be the best for her family and career.
"I went to campus. I like the athletic director. But I can't see myself living in Alabama," she noted.
South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley responded to the Texas Longhorns in the final four games held on April 4, 2025 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Ben Solomon/NCAA via Getty Images)
Although Staley doesn’t care about the idea of moving to Alabama, she said moving to South Carolina means she will still join a league where several coaches have built legendary careers.
"I was attracted by the USC being part of the SEC and its legendary legacy in women's basketball," Staley wrote. "Pat Summitt participated in this league, Andy Landers, Melanie Balcomb, the coach of all these legends. I'm always looking to perfect my skills and compete with the best skills. The highest of the Cherry is that my parents were originally from South Carolina."
Staley also longs for reunion with her mother, Estelle and her siblings.
University of South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley celebrated winning the Albany area game after cutting a piece of net at MVP Arena in Albany, NY on March 31, 2024 and entered the final four games. (Tracy Glantz/State/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Staley is known to have become a beloved figure in Columbia, the capital of South Carolina and the Gamecocks home. The city recently announced a campus statue in honor of Staley.
Staley embraced a country in her complex history with her family. Estelle left South Carolina decades ago due to racism and discrimination.
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Staley describes homecoming as a “full circle moment.”
"Time is an interesting thing, isn't it? What I found myself thriving in exile in a state of exile is an irony that I will never forget," Staley wrote. "She was able to return to her home, where she belonged, when I came to work in South Carolina, it was social progress, the civil rights movement, countless earthquakes and small changes, but was also largely made possible by faith."
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