The Gold Standard: Team USA to tap Staley as next coach

Who else would they choose?

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley will be introduced as the next head women’s basketball coach of Team USA on Friday, three sources close to the situation confirmed to The State on Thursday.

The announcement, long rumored to be the next logical step after two-time gold medalist coach Geno Auriemma stepped down after the 2016 Olympics, will place a 10-time gold medalist as a player, Olympic assistant coach and junior-level assistant coach into the head slot.

Sources weren’t willing to speak on the record about the upcoming announcement, but a news conference will be held at Williams-Brice Stadium at 12:30 p.m. Friday.

The announcement is for “the 2017-20 USA Basketball Women’s National Team head coach, who will head the U.S. teams at the 2018 FIBA World Cup of Basketball, if necessary the 2019 Olympic Qualifying Tournament, and, if the United States qualifies, the 2020 Olympic Games.”

Staley served as an assistant to Auriemma in 2016 as the U.S. won its sixth straight Olympic gold. She has won 10 golds during her involvement with Team USA, three as an Olympic player.

Staley assisted on the 2006 world championship team and the 2008 Olympic team, while head-coaching two gold medal teams at the 2007 Pan Am Games and the 2014 U-18 tournament. She previously told The State newspaper she would never turn down a chance to serve Team USA, because it is an endeavor she has been committed to for half her life.

“If I’m ever honored in that way, it wouldn’t take me long to decide,” Staley said.

Staley, 46, won her fourth straight SEC regular-season championship and third straight SEC tournament title. The Gamecocks are expected to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament for the fourth straight year when the field is announced Monday.

The 2020 Olympics will be held in Tokyo.

Staley inherits a U.S. national team that has a roster in flux. Four-time Olympic gold medalist Tamika Catchings retired, while Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird haven’t committed to playing again. Both would be in their late 30s by the start of the Tokyo Games.

There still is a strong young core with Maya Moore, Brittney Griner, Elena Delle Donne, Tina Charles and Breanna Stewart.

Current Gamecocks A’ja Wilson and Alaina Coates could be possibilities for the team.

This story was originally published March 9, 2017 at 2:16 PM with the headline "The Gold Standard: Team USA to tap Staley as next coach."