Sunday was a historic afternoon in more ways than one for South Carolina’s Dawn Staley.
Not only did she complete the first undefeated women’s basketball season in the history of the Gamecocks’ program and collect her third national title, but she also set a new mark for Black coaches in college sports.
With this weekend’s victory, Staley became the first Black head basketball coach (men’s or women’s) to win three Division I championships after already becoming the first Black coach to win multiple titles in 2022.
Staley was overcome with emotion as the final seconds ticked down on another successful season.
“I felt a great deal of pressure to win because I’m a Black coach,” she admitted after the game. “Because if we don’t win, then you bring in, just scrutiny. Like, ‘You can’t coach, you had enough to get it done but yet you failed.’ You feel all of that, and you feel it probably 10 times more than anyone else because we’re at this platform.”
“It really makes me emotional,” Staley continued. “It does. Because I am their hope. I am the person that they strive [to be because of] where I sit winning national championships. That’s what they want to do.”
After winning her first championship in 2017, Staley cut a piece of the net to give to Carolyn Peck — the first Black woman to ever win a championship.