Paying it forward: Dawn Staley gives piece of championship net to Black women coaches
When Carolyn Peck gifted Dawn Staley a piece of Purdue’s 1999 NCAA championship net in 2015, she had one request.
Peck, the first Black head coach to win a women’s basketball championship, asked Staley to give away a piece of the net when South Carolina women’s basketball won a title of its own.
In an essay published by The Undefeated last April, Staley said she kept Peck’s gift in her wallet until the Gamecocks cut down the net after winning 2017 championship. Staley then returned the piece back to Peck, thanking her in a tweet and adding “#whosnext.”
When it was time for her to pay it forward, Staley had trouble choosing just one coach to carry on the tradition.
“I just really didn’t know who,” Staley said. “Because there are a lot of Black coaches out there that are doing some great things. I thought about giving two, three, four of them, and then I’m just like, ‘Hey, let’s just give them all.’ ”
That she did.
Black women coaches around the nation, including Arizona’s Adia Barnes, Auburn’s Johnnie Harris, Coastal Carolina’s Jaida Williams and Wisconsin’s Marisa Moseley, have shared videos and messages on Twitter this week opening Staley’s gift ahead of the 2021-22 women’s basketball season.
“Coach Staley, thank you so much for this,” Williams said in a video. “You are truly an inspiration, not only to myself. Your heart is so big. What you give to this game, it’s not even — we can’t even put a price tag on it. You’re so dope. Such a dope person and such a dope coach. Thank you for sharing this. This is definitely going to be with me all season and seasons to come.”
Barnes, who made history with Staley last season as the pair became the first two Black coaches to take the floor in the women’s Final Four, expressed gratitude and a hope she’ll be able to pass on the net tradition at Arizona soon.
“Dawn, I love you, you’re the best,” Barnes said in a video. “You’re a great friend, and thank you. This is something I’m going to cherish, and hopefully I’ll be doing this one day.”
Staley said her goal is for her gift to provide a source of hope for fellow coaches throughout tough days, practices or moments.
“You never know what they’re going through in their coaching day-to-day,” Staley said. “I wanted it to be a tangible thing that they can utilize every day to push them over the top.”
South Carolina’s 2021-22 season theme — “Net Worth” — reflects the Gamecocks’ eventual goal of cutting the net down like they did in 2017. South Carolina’s charge to a national championship started with a top-five win over N.C. State on Tuesday, and it continues with a matchup Friday against South Dakota.
Staley said she may have missed a few junior college coaches in her initial mail-out, so there are a few more pieces of the net left to be sent. She said paying it forward with the championship net comes down to a hope that more stories will be heard.
“It’s also to create the narrative that we want to see in our game,” Staley said. “There are a lot of forgotten stories that are not being told, and we wanted to be out-front in telling their story.”
Next South Carolina women’s basketball game
Who: South Carolina Gamecocks (1-0) vs. South Dakota Coyotes (0-1)
Where: Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.
When: 7 p.m. Friday
TV: ESPN News
This story was originally published November 12, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
