Over the past decade, South Carolina coach Dawn Staley has gradually emerged as a face of women's basketball—but she has proven willing to turn her trademark candor on the men's game as well.
Case in point: Tuesday, when a reporter asked Staley about the hypothetical possibility of an NBA team hiring a female coach (given Staley's interview with the Knicks earlier this summer) at the SEC's media days.
"No, I don't," Staley said via Myron Medcalf of ESPN when asked whether she thought it would happen in her lifetime. "And I hope I'm wrong."
Staley—who also interviewed for the Trail Blazers' top job in 2021—pointed to the scrutiny such a coach would be under.
"If the Knicks have a five-game losing streak, it's not going to be about the losing streak," Staley said. "It's going to be about being a female coach. So you as an organization, a franchise, you have to be prepared for and strong enough to ignore those types of instances when you're going to look to hire a female coach."
The Gamecocks have won three national championships under Staley's stewardship in 2017, 2022 and 2024. South Carolina is scheduled to open its season against Grand Canyon on Nov. 3.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Dawn Staley Discusses the Possibility of a Female NBA Coach.
