THE MODERATOR: We welcome to the podium from the University of South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley. We'll go ahead and take questions.
Q. I'd love to know your thoughts on how revenue sharing is impacting recruitment.
DAWN STALEY: As of today, we have one. But I'm okay. I think rev share is impacting everyone on different levels. You got to be creative in this space. I certainly don't overpromise when it comes to rev share and NIL. I'm only going to spread it out with what we have, like, in hand, not necessarily trying to go out and get it.
You lose some recruits in that regards. If it's all about the money, right, they're a lot cheaper the second time around, so I'm okay with letting them go (smiling).
I do think we've got a quality program that produces pros. When you are at a point in your career as a young person, when that becomes the priority, like really the priority, we always get a look the second time around. I'm okay with that, as well.
Q. What's the best piece of advice you've received throughout your coaching career?
DAWN STALEY: When I first got into coaching, like, 25 years ago, I worked alongside a colleague by the name of coach John Chaney. As we were walking to the press conference, he gave me this advice. He said, If anything goes wrong, blame your assistant coaches (laughter).
No, but, I mean, for me, I've had a lot of different coaches. I've taken a little bit of this and a little bit of that from them. From a Tara VanDerveer, very methodical, very studious when it comes to basketball.
I learned how to not surfacely look at basketball. You have to have some depth to that. Nell Fortner was super positive. No matter how things looked or felt to her, she always gave a positive outlook on what was happening.
Then someone like Van Chancellor, who pretty much said, Roll the ball out, do what you do. He had a veteran group when he coached me as a Houston Comet, then he coached me in the Olympic Games. He was just so, I would say, veteran. He coached veterans. He allowed veterans to lead the way. It helped me throughout my career to understand how to treat veterans, how to not put as many mileage on their legs. I'm always conscious of that.
Then I worked alongside of a Lisa Bowyer who has way more coaching experience than I do, just knows the game. She thinks the game, she loves the game. She's a great supplement, a complement to the things I don't do well.
Q. Kenny Brooks, when he took the job at Kentucky, talked about the program being a sleeping giant. What can you say about his first year there?
DAWN STALEY: I don't think most people outside of Kenny's comment would think they're a sleeping giant. Kentucky is Kentucky. Kentucky is a brand, right?
I think he walked into a situation where people love to be a part of Big Blue Nation. I think he's done extremely well his first year. I think he'll continue to do so in our league. We look forward to what was a rivalry. That was the team that we played twice every year. We don't have that situation anymore.
Certainly look forward to the asset he's become in our league.
Q. What do you need out of the 4s on the roster and who are you expecting to be a commanding presence in the post this year?
DAWN STALEY: I just really need them to be themselves. Chloe is irreplaceable for what she brings so tangibly and intangibly.
All the players on our roster, with the exception of our two transfers and our freshmen, they know what it's about. Maryam is playing extremely well. Much improved. Adhel is playing much improved. Joyce is Joyce. Joyce is going to probably take the brunt of it because she's just got more playing experience under us.
The same conversations I'm having with Joyce, with or without Chloe, I'm having. It's not like we're going to ask somebody to be Chloe because that's impossible.
We're unafraid to go into the season without Chloe. You're not going to see us skipping a beat. Our players know anytime we sustain any kind of injury, we believe in the system that we put together, we believe in the players that we assembled.
If you look throughout our time at South Carolina, we haven't had very many injuries throughout my career. The times we've sustained some injuries, we won the national championship sustaining an injury to Alaina Coates, right?
We'll figure out a way and make adjustments. I'm glad, somewhat glad, this time where you don't have to make adjustments mid-season. You go with who's healthy to go.
Q. You talked about producing pros. You're an important voice in the women's game. What was your reaction to Napheesa Collier's comments a couple weeks ago?
DAWN STALEY: I mean, it sounds like it's personal in her perspective of the situation. I think people have to understand they're negotiating, right? In negotiations, like any other issues that come up, there's always going to be emotional attachment to it. Then there's facts.
Once we get down to the facts, I do think it's going to get done. So both of them are playing the sides they need to play. I think it was brave of Phee to step out there and put her name on the line when it comes to where the players stand, right? At the same time you look at Cathy Engelbert, and I don't think there's another commissioner that have accomplished what she has for the state of women's professional basketball.
They're negotiating. It's part of it.
Q. Off topic a little bit. You interviewed with the Knicks this past off-season. How much interest, how much of a desire would you have to be a trailblazer and be the first woman's coach in the NBA or men's college basketball someday?
DAWN STALEY: How much do I have that in me?
Q. Yes.
DAWN STALEY: Not really a whole lot. But I did the Knicks interview because I've known Leon Rose for 30 years. Because of that, I'm a person that I need a connection to the people, right? I have a connection to him, World Wide Wes. I've known them all my life.
It was a real interview. I like to see what they're talking about. If there's somebody that is interested in knowing and interested in being the first female NBA coach or such, I got all the information. Come see me because I'll get you prepared for the interview. If there are NBA franchises that are interested in hiring a female, I'm here, too, because you got to be ready to take on that and all the things that it comes with 'cause it's not just hiring the first female coach.
One, you didn't ask for all this, but you asked me a question. If I'm the Knicks coach, you have a five-game losing streak, it's not going to be about the losing streak, it's going to be about being a female coach.
You as an organization and franchise have to be prepared for that and strong enough to endure those types of instances when you're going to hire a female coach.
Q. Do you think it will happen in your lifetime?
DAWN STALEY: I don't. And I hope I'm wrong.
Q. There's been a proliferation of participation in three-on-threes. I was wondering, since Joyce was a part of that team you guys had, what are the benefits you see in that? Do players do a lot more individual kind of training, and you want more organized? Walk me through what you see.
DAWN STALEY: A lot of what we already do just as a coach, whether it's basketball, football, soccer, you break basketball down into small parts. Three-on-three is a part of what we do. A basketball court is what you do, when there's three players on this side, two players on the other side, you break those things down. You make them play one-on-one, two-on-two, three-on-three, four-on-four, five-on-five. It's part of a breakdown.
I think what three-on-three does is it reveals who can actually play because you got to be smart. There's certain things that happen out there, the spacing out there on the floor, it's read and react. You can see who's skilled enough, who's intelligent enough to read and react on both side of the ball.
I believe Joyce is going to have to make a choice whether she's going to be an Olympian for XXXXXV or XXXIII.
THE MODERATOR: Coach Staley, thank you for your time.
DAWN STALEY: Thank you.
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