While she’s said she’s not interested in coaching the team, there has to be a place on Philadelphia’s new WNBA team for Dawn Staley.
South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley her arms out for her defense to see during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against South Florida Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Artie Walker Jr.)
By Chris Murray
For the Philadelphia Sunday Sun
Earlier this week, the City of Philadelphia got some welcome news when the WNBA announced that a new franchise would be coming to the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection in 2030.
The franchise will be run by Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment, the same ownership group that owns the 76ers.
With the place that basketball holds in Philadelphia, it’s time it got a place to showcase women’s basketball, said Carol Englebert, WNBA commissioner.
“It’s only fitting that this iconic sports town is finally home to a WNBA franchise,” Englebert said. “From neighborhood courts to historic college arenas, basketball runs deep in Philly — and we’re proud to bring the W to a city that’s ready to embrace it.”
While this is a win for Harris Blitzer and Mayor Cherelle Parker — folks who are probably still smarting from the whole downtown arena debacle — and comedian Wanda Sykes, who has been pushing for a WNBA team in Philadelphia for a while now, another name kept coming up in connection with the team.
That name? Dawn Staley.
It made total sense that Staley, University of South Carolina coach, Olympic gold medalist, former Temple University coach and all-around Philadelphia basketball icon, would be the first name uttered by most basketball fans when it comes to the leadership of the new squad. But while she’s interested in ownership, she’s not interested in coaching.
And who could blame her? While she’s a basketball icon in Philadelphia, she’s a deity in South Carolina. Staley loves the power she has as a coach at the collegiate level, where she can help mentor and develop players to live up to their potential.
Staley is by far the winningest coach in the history of South Carolina women’s basketball, with a record of 647-190 overall. When she was at Temple from 2000-2008, she turned a dormant Owls women’s basketball program into a winner. She compiled a 170-80 record while winning four Atlantic-10 conference titles and leading her teams to six trips to the NCAA Tournament.
More than a few players from her Temple women’s program have made it to the WNBA, most notably Candice Dupree, a WNBA no. 1 draft pick in 2006 and now the current head women’s basketball coach at Tennessee State.
Of course, Staley’s time in South Carolina has been nothing short of phenomenal. Three national championships, seven Final Four appearances in the last 10 years—including the last five years in a row. She is one of four head coaches to win three national championships. In 2021, she led the U.S. women’s team to the Olympic Gold medal.
With all the success that she has at building winning programs, I think Staley has the potential to do it as a coach and as a possible exec or owner at the professional level. At Temple, she had zero experience as a head coach and in eight years turned the Lady Owls into a winning program without having one blue-chip athlete.
Back in 2021, Staley told a South Carolina radio station that she had no interest in coaching at the collegiate level. As the story goes, she had turned down then-Temple Athletic Director Bill O’Brien for the Temple position.
But then two weeks later, Staley wound up taking the job at Temple and said, “This is what I’m supposed to be doing.”
And, of course, the rest is history.
If Staley were to change her mind about coming to the WNBA, whether it’s as a coach, general manager, or an owner, she could build a winning franchise from the ground up.
Philadelphia’s WNBA squad has got to find a place for her.
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