Dawn Staley is now SEC coaching rivals with her former college roommate

March is a busy time for women's college basketball. Of course, there's the NCAA Women's College Basketball Tournament happening, which Dawn Staley's South Carolina team is 2-0 so far. 

But the month is also hiring season across the sport. For Staley, starting next season, she will now be coaching against one of her former Virginia teammates who was also her roommate for four years. That's because the Florida Gators hired Tammi Reiss to be the next head coach of the Gator's women's basketball team. 

Reiss, who spent the last eight seasons as the head coach at Rhode Island, played with Staley at Virginia from 1988-1992. Over both of their four seasons with the Cavaliers, UVA made it to three Final Fours and the national championship game in 1991 under longtime head coach Debbie Ryan. Here's a great photo of the two of them back in the day: 

"It's pretty cool," Staley said on Monday of Florida hiring her former teammate. "I think Tammi's built for high-level basketball, and she's very passionate about the game. That's all I've known her to be in all the years that I've known her. I think she will be a really good fit for Florida. I think they have to get ready for her, though, because she's going to need to be supported. She's going to be -- she's going to speak out on being supported. But I do think it will be a changing of the guard that will elevate Florida women's basketball in a great way."

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The two former teammates have had differences career-wise after their playing days at Virginia. Reiss returned to UVA after graduating to coach as an assistant under her former coach, but was then drafted by the Utah Starzz No. 5 overall in 1997. She was part of the very first two seasons of the newly-formed WNBA, but returned to coaching in 2001. 

Reiss coached her former WNBA team from 2001-2002, then bounced around several stops as an assistant, such as the San Antonio Stars, San Diego State and Cal State Fullerton. She spent 2015-2019 as an assistant at Syracuse before getting hired as Rhode Island's had coach in April 2019. 

Over her seven seasons there, Reiss led the program to a 138-73 overall record, with a trip to the NCAA Tournament this past season. She also appeared in shows and movies such as "Sister, Sister," "Double Teamed," and "Juwanna Man." She also was a nightclub owner for 10 years in Utah. 

Staley, meanwhile, was a former No. 9 overall pick in the 1999 WNBA Draft, playing overseas after her collegiate career ended. She played 10 seasons in the league before starting her career in coaching. After coaching at Temple from 2000-2008, she has coached at South Carolina since then. She has led the Gamecocks to three national championships, as well as seven trips to the Final Four.   

Hopefully future Florida-South Carolina games will have plenty of intrigue as Reiss starts building in Gainesville.