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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Before Dawn Staley coached South Carolina women's basketball to seven Final Four appearances, Staley played in three of her own for Virginia.
Staley is coaching in her 12th consecutive Sweet 16 on March 28 (5 p.m. ET, ESPN) as the No. 1 seed Gamecocks (33-3) play No. 4 seed Oklahoma (26-7).
The No. 10 Cavaliers (22-11) are playing in their first Sweet 16 since 2000. If South Carolina wins and Virginia beats No. 3 seed TCU, it will be Staley coaching against her college team in the Elite Eight.
"It's great," Staley said. "I think the history of our program at Virginia has been Final Fours, making the Sweet 16s and we've been vacant in that area for a while. I'm happy coach (Amaka Agugua-Hamilton) and the crew really did something that nobody thought they could do."
Virginia became the first team to make it to the Sweet 16 after starting the Women's NCAA Tournament with a First Four game.
If successful against TCU, Virginia would make its first Elite Eight appearance since 1996. Staley said, "They got the personnel to do it."
Staley is 1-0 against Virginia at South Carolina, winning in the second round of NCAA Tournament in 2018.
Staley was a point guard for Virginia under coach Debbie Ryan, leading the Cavaliers to the Sweet 16 her freshman season in 1989, then making it to the Final Four as a sophomore in 1990.
Her junior season, Virginia lost to Tennessee in overtime of the 1991 national championship game. Staley was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player and won Naismith Player of the Year.
As a senior, Staley and Virginia lost to Stanford in the 1992 Final Four.
Staley said she's spoken to Agugua-Hamilton a few times, and sends her text to congratulate her after wins.
"I went to UVA over the Christmas break and got a chance to sit and chat with her, and just let her know she's done a great job," Staley said.
In 1999 with Purdue, Carolyn Peck became the first Black female head coach to win the NCAA title, and she gave a piece of the basketball net to Staley, telling her to carry on the tradition.
Since 2017, Staley has won three titles at South Carolina and has given pieces of the nets to Black head coaches across women's basketball. Agugua-Hamilton received a piece of it from Staley and said she still has it at her desk.
"It's amazing, I have tremendous respect for her and everything she's done in her career and just done in the game and elevated our game and brought more notoriety to it," Agugua-Hamilton said.
She said she knew Staley before she got to UVA but they became "friends" once she took over.
"This is her school, this is where she started her basketball career. Learned a lot. Grew a lot. She says that all the time publicly. She's very passionate about Virginia and very passionate about the women's basketball program," Agugua-Hamilton said.
Staley reached out the day Agugua-Hamilton was hired.
"She's excited to see us back in the Sweet 16, back in the Big Dance," Agugua-Hamilton said. "She's been nothing but supportive. It would be awesome if we take care of business, meet her in the Sweet 16. I think that would be a great moment for UVA, Wahoo Nation. Tremendous respect for everything she's done. She's been a really good friend and a really good supporter. I appreciate her a lot."
Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at [email protected]. Follow her on X@Lulukesin and Bluesky@bylulukesin.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Dawn Staley reacts to UVA success, college team making Sweet 16
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Staley is coaching in her 12th consecutive Sweet 16 on March 28 (5 p.m. ET, ESPN) as the No. 1 seed Gamecocks (33-3) play No. 4 seed Oklahoma (26-7).
The No. 10 Cavaliers (22-11) are playing in their first Sweet 16 since 2000. If South Carolina wins and Virginia beats No. 3 seed TCU, it will be Staley coaching against her college team in the Elite Eight.
"It's great," Staley said. "I think the history of our program at Virginia has been Final Fours, making the Sweet 16s and we've been vacant in that area for a while. I'm happy coach (Amaka Agugua-Hamilton) and the crew really did something that nobody thought they could do."
Virginia became the first team to make it to the Sweet 16 after starting the Women's NCAA Tournament with a First Four game.
If successful against TCU, Virginia would make its first Elite Eight appearance since 1996. Staley said, "They got the personnel to do it."
Staley is 1-0 against Virginia at South Carolina, winning in the second round of NCAA Tournament in 2018.
Dawn Staley's connection to Virginia women's basketball
Staley was a point guard for Virginia under coach Debbie Ryan, leading the Cavaliers to the Sweet 16 her freshman season in 1989, then making it to the Final Four as a sophomore in 1990.
Her junior season, Virginia lost to Tennessee in overtime of the 1991 national championship game. Staley was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player and won Naismith Player of the Year.
As a senior, Staley and Virginia lost to Stanford in the 1992 Final Four.
What Amaka Agugua-Hamilton said about Dawn Staley
Staley said she's spoken to Agugua-Hamilton a few times, and sends her text to congratulate her after wins.
"I went to UVA over the Christmas break and got a chance to sit and chat with her, and just let her know she's done a great job," Staley said.
In 1999 with Purdue, Carolyn Peck became the first Black female head coach to win the NCAA title, and she gave a piece of the basketball net to Staley, telling her to carry on the tradition.
Since 2017, Staley has won three titles at South Carolina and has given pieces of the nets to Black head coaches across women's basketball. Agugua-Hamilton received a piece of it from Staley and said she still has it at her desk.
"It's amazing, I have tremendous respect for her and everything she's done in her career and just done in the game and elevated our game and brought more notoriety to it," Agugua-Hamilton said.
She said she knew Staley before she got to UVA but they became "friends" once she took over.
"This is her school, this is where she started her basketball career. Learned a lot. Grew a lot. She says that all the time publicly. She's very passionate about Virginia and very passionate about the women's basketball program," Agugua-Hamilton said.
Staley reached out the day Agugua-Hamilton was hired.
"She's excited to see us back in the Sweet 16, back in the Big Dance," Agugua-Hamilton said. "She's been nothing but supportive. It would be awesome if we take care of business, meet her in the Sweet 16. I think that would be a great moment for UVA, Wahoo Nation. Tremendous respect for everything she's done. She's been a really good friend and a really good supporter. I appreciate her a lot."
Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at [email protected]. Follow her on X@Lulukesin and Bluesky@bylulukesin.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Dawn Staley reacts to UVA success, college team making Sweet 16
Continue reading...
