Coaching Corner Dawn Staley, South Carolina Women’s Basketball Coach

 

• I have to blow my top on occasion if I feel it, but also remember to speak in the players’ vernacular. Because they really don't understand. If they understood, they would do differently. So you've got to take it down a few notches and put it in a way where they'll understand it.
• Sometimes, it's just experience. You've got to get through their growing pains. But I'm never going to put up with anyone disrespecting the game.
• The bad thing is players really haven't seen the work great athletes had to do and the number of hours they put in in order to perform that way. Because it looks easy when you just sit back and watch a great player. They don't know what they did to get to that point. They don't understand the preparation part. Coaches who have played the game are more prevalent now, and we have to teach them what it really takes to accomplish those goals.
• I like the challenge of getting players to rise to certain levels, but that's the easy part. The biggest challenge is to get them to believe in what we're doing. They have to understand that it's O.K. to have good days and bad days.

Here We Go!: Dawn Staley's Gamecocks and the Road to the Championship