South Carolina Basketball: Dawn Staley wins another national coach of the year honor

South Carolina basketball coach Dawn Staley is no stranger to winning awards.

As a player, the Gamecock head coach was the National Player of the Year in 1991 and 1992 while playing for the Virginia Cavaliers and went on to be one of the best professional women's basketball stars of all-time.

When she transitioned to coaching, she eventually became a National Coach of the Year (winning the honor from different publications for four different seasons). She has won two national championships with the Gamecocks and is going for her third this season.

On Monday, it was announced that Dawn Staley was adding to her extremely full mantle with the USBWA (United States Basketball Writers Association) National Coach of the Year Award. Staley now has won the award from the USBWA for three straight seasons. She had previously been named the 2023-2024 National Coach of the Year by The Athletic and is a semifinalist for the Naismith National Coach of the Year.

Staley was the easy choice for national coach of the year as she is leading the Gamecocks in pursuit of some serious history.

The Gamecocks have a chance to become the fifth program and tenth team to ever go undefeated, joining UConn (6x), Tennessee, Texas, and Baylor. They also have the chance to become just the fifth program to win their third national title. UConn (11), Tennessee (8), Stanford (3), and Baylor (3). Staley, herself, could join Geno Auriemma, Pat Summitt, Tara VanDerveer, and Kim Mulkey with three championships as a coach.

Coach Staley and her team will start their road through March Madness on Friday, March 22nd. The Gamecocks will face off with the winner of the play-in game between Sacred Heart and Presbyterian at 2:00 at Colonial Life Arena.

With a strong attendance showing in that game and the subsequent game (against the winner of North Carolina-Michigan State), South Carolina basketball could set an all-time attendance record, adding yet another accolade to Coach Staley's resume.