On Sunday night, the leader of South Carolina's women's basketball program became the first Black coach to win two NCAA Tournaments. There is a short list of Black coaches who have cut down the nets. John Thompson at Georgetown, Nolan Richardson at Arkansas, Tubby Smith at Kentucky, Carolyn Peck at Purdue, Kevin Ollie at Connecticut, and Dawn Staley at South Carolina have all been there.
If North Carolina defeats Kansas in the National Championship Game, then Hubert Davis will join the list. He will belong to a historic group that is led by Staley.
I felt a lot of pressure to win because I'm a black coach. You feel it more than anyone else because we are at this platform. It makes me sad. It does. I am their hope. I am the person that they want to be because I have won national titles. They want to do that.
The evolution of what started in 1982 with the first two Black coaches to take a team to the Final Four, has made C. Vivian Stringer and Thompson the first two Black coaches to take a team to the Final Four. Her resume checks everything. She has created a dynasty at South Carolina, was interviewed by the Portland Trail blazers for their head coaching position last year, and coached the Olympic team to a gold medal. The program had only made eight tournaments, three Sweet 16s and one Elite Eight before the arrival of Staley. The program has made 10 tournament appearances, 9 Sweet 16s, 5 Elite Eights, and 4 Final Four trips to go along with 2 national titles.
A black woman making something out of nothing in a southern state is a miracle. Black girls are magic because of that.
We already know that the contributions of legends and icons like John McClendon and Clarence Big House, along with Thompson, are often viewed as the progenitors of Black college basketball coaches. At the age of 51, she is in a position to be the leader in the club house. She has more titles than the other Black coaches. It is about a woman doing it.
When she received a piece of her championship net in 2015, Staley promised that she would keep the tradition alive, as she sent a piece of her net to other Black female coaches across the country. The pieces of the net will be sent to another group of people that are often overlooked and working in an industry that lacks diversity.
The net is going to represent something in our game, something that will advance our game. We are going to give them a piece of the net and hope that it will be something they can use to advance in their field.
Standing on the shoulders of the giants that have come before her, Staley has arrived at a point where she is winning more than her predecessors while building a legacy off the court, unlike anything we have ever seen. As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Title IX this year, which was passed when she was just a toddler, she has become the face of what can happen when equality exists, as the law that allowed women to play sports has led to a Black woman being the most important college basketball coach
It's time to stop mentioning the usuals like the Van Gundy brothers, when an NBA franchise is looking to hire the best candidate for the job. They should call Dawn. There is no reason to believe that she wouldn't win in the pros.
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