Dawn Staley has been a monumental presence in women’s college basketball and the WNBA for decades now. However, Staley recently discussed how her goals differed from when she was growing up, and the three-time national championship-winning coach revealed she once hoped to play in the NBA.
“There wasn’t an outlet when I was growing up. My goals and dream were to play in the NBA,” Staley said after South Carolina’s win over NC State on Sunday. “The WNBA wasn’t thought about.”
The WNBA debuted in 1997, five years after Staley graduated from Virginia in 1992. Staley eventually joined the league in 1999 as the No. 9 overall pick by the now defunct Charlotte Sting.
As a child, Staley simply craved to be a part of all the exciting stuff basketball could offer.
“I wanted to play in the Olympics. The Olympics, national championship and NBA is where I saw most of my basketball growing up,” Staley said. “And I only saw a woman play in two of those events, Olympics and national championship. Those were my goals, to be a gold medalist and a national champion.”
Staley eventually earned three gold medals while playing for Team USA. She added one more when she coached the Americans during the 2020 Tokyo…
