Dawn Staley in a Gamecocks game. – Source: Matthew Maxey, Getty
South Carolina Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley, in her almost 17-year stint at the helm of the program, has generated a successful career. Through her leadership of the now No. 6-ranked team in the country, the tenured tactician has brought them three NCAA national championships, reaching the Final Four six times, eight SEC tournament and regular season titles, apiece.
Throughout the success she has garnered with the Gamecocks, the 54-year-old’s program is said to have been one of the premier destinations for any women’s basketball aspirant. But, if there was one player, however, that could match up to their stature as the focal point of leading the growth of the women’s game, it’s former Iowa Hawkeyes sensation Caitlin Clark.
During an interview with Forbes in August of 2024, Staley, whose net worth is $12 million per Celebrity Net Worth, detailed that the development in popularity of women’s basketball is based on a single unifier. She thinks it’s Clark who has etched herself into that role due to her growing stardom.
“I think, sometimes, you need a unifier. I think Caitlin Clark has done a tremendous job at being that person that people want to see,” Staley said. (3:1o). “It is the young, the old, she’s brought the different set of eyeballs on our game. Now, we’re being talked about on talk radio, all the talk shows, all the podcasts.
“Now, we’re seeing not only Caitlin, but all the rest of the talented young ladies that we didn’t dare to cover for one reason or another. But, now it’s a popular thing to talk about women’s basketball and it’s a great thing. I’m so happy that I’m alive and well to witness it and to see and to be a part of it,” she then added.
Clark has transcended her game into the WNBA ranks, becoming the 2024 Rookie of the Year as she ramps up for hopefully another successful season with the Indiana Fever later this year.
Dawn Staley has developed her own women’s basketball “unifiers” such as A’ja Wilson
Dawn Staley and A’ja Wilson in 2017. – Source: Matthew Emmons, Imagn
For Dawn Staley, she has produced her superstars from the South Carolina Gamecocks program that have carved out stellar careers in the WNBA. One of them is 28-year-old A’ja Wilson, who has two WNBA championships, with a Finals MVP title. She released a signature sneaker with Nike called the “A’One”, a testament to her stardom.
In her time under the tutelage of Staley, Wilson won the 2017 national championship with her and was even named the NCAA tournament MOP before being named the 2018 Naismith College Player of the Year.
