“I coach like I’m their point guard”: When Dawn Staley explained her coaching technique leading to South Carolina’s success

Image credits: IMAGN (right), Getty (left)

Dawn Staley highlighted her coaching approach while speaking on an episode of “Finding Mastery” released in 2021. The South Carolina coach recounted her own playing days, citing the diverse leadership she has grown under.

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Staley shared that she has transferred all of that learning to her coaching job with the Gamecocks and utilizes whatever works for her.

“I’ve had a lot of different coaches in my career,” she said (13:08). “I’ve been coached by a coach who was methodical, low turnover, value the ball; I’ve been coached by a coach who allowed me to make mistakes and be creative and talk me through those mistakes.

“I had coaches who just played head games, had you thinking outside of the 94 feet. And I’ve taken all of those experiences and for me, I just take the good from them that works for me. I’m a player’s coach because I coach like I’m their point guard versus being up here and they’re down. I’m a team member.”

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Less than a year after the interview, Dawn Staley led South Carolina to its second NCAA championship. The Gamecocks dominated the college circuit, defeating 14 ranked teams and retaining the top spot for the entire season.

She bested the 11-time NCAA champion coach Geno Auriemma in the national finals, defeating UConn Huskies 64-49.

Dawn Staley is launching her first book

In an Instagram post on Friday, Dawn Staley announced that she had finished writing her first book, “UNCOMMON FAVOR: Basketball, North Philly, My Mother, and the Life Lessons I Learned from All Three.” In the video, the coach shared that she was encouraged by people around her to pen down her journey and that the book will discuss her learnings from different stages of her life.

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The book will be published in May and fans can preorder their copy through the link in Staley’s Instagram bio.

During her media availability on Friday, Dawn Staley spoke about her experience writing the book.

“It’s mentally exhausting (writing a book) and I don’t like to feel that way, I like to be exhausted from a win,” she said. (at 3:08)

“Writing a book – you got to think about a lot of things and who were the characters that played and sometimes you lose that in just getting older. But the good stuff is in it. Stuff that I really think things that were impactful to my life.”

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Dawn Staley’s team is currently preparing to visit Vanderbilt on Sunday and Ole Miss on Thursday. The squad will then head back home to host No. 14 Kentucky for its last game of the season.