South Carolina basketball: Would Dawn Staley leave Gamecocks for the NBA?

Would Dawn Staley ever leave South Carolina basketball?

South Carolina’s women’s basketball program has been built into one of the nation’s best, having recently reached yet another Final Four, and just missing out on a shot at an NCAA title. The 2020-21 season ended in controversy, as a few questionable calls helped lead to a one-point defeat at the hands of eventual champion Stanford. That loss has the Gamecocks more motivated than ever to get back to the pinnacle of the basketball world.

That motivation could be taking a hit, though, with some recent buzz surrounding the legendary head coach and the NBA. Do we believe that Coach Staley would ever leave the program she’s spent so much time building in lieu of another position? We may soon find out.

Earlier this week, it was announced that Staley was one of five initial candidates in the Portland Trail Blazers’ head coaching search. Should Coach Staley decide to leave for the NBA, it would be a hire of historic proportions. She would become the first female head coach in a male sport. She is one of a handful of potential options alonside Mike D’Antoni, Becky Hammon, Chauncey Billups, and Brent Barry.

This isn’t the first time that Staley’s name has been linked to the NBA. Last season, she was connected to the Philadelphia 76ers opening, though she ultimately said she’d rather be a fan of her hometown team as opposed to coaching them from the sidelines.

Staley has been leading the Gamecocks for 13 seasons now, and has done a masterful job of turning the program around. She took over a team that was 16-16 the year prior to her hire, and within four seasons, had guided the program to the Sweet 16. It would be the beginning of a tenure that now includes:

• 331-103 overall record
• Four 30-win seasons
• Six SEC Tournament titles
• Five SEC regular season titles
• Six Sweet 16’s
• Three Final Fours
• One National Championship
• Two No. 1 rankings in final poll

She’s had so much success at South Carolina that she’s responsible for over a third of the total wins in program history. Before she arrived in Columbia, the Gamecocks were average, with the program posting an overall record of 580-429. Only one team in school history had notched 30 wins, and that was way back in 1979. For comparison’s sake, Staley has achieved the feat four times (she’s also reached 29 wins in two other seasons).

Personally, I don’t believe that she would give up coaching one of college basketball’s elite programs for an opportunity in the pros. She’s assembled the No. 1 recruiting class in the country, with the Gamecocks’ signing three of the nation’s top four prospects, and she’s hungry to get that second national championship after being right on the cusp in each of the past two seasons.

While I don’t see her leaving Columbia, if Staley were to take the leap to the NBA, I’d be the first one in her corner rooting her on. She’s helped put South Carolina basketball back on the map.