Staley Named Russell Athletic/WBCA Region 3 Coach of the Year

March 26, 2014

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley was named 2014 Russell Athletic/WBCA NCAA Division I Region 3 Coach of the Year, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced today. She and the other seven regional winners are now finalists for the inaugural Pat Summitt Trophy to be presented to the 2014 Russell Athletic/WBCA NCAA Division I National Coach of the Year, which will be announced on Mon., Apr. 7. Staley is the first South Carolina coach to earn the award.

Staley is leading the Gamecocks in one of the best seasons in school history as South Carolina claimed both its first SEC regular-season championship and first NCAA Tournament No. 1 seed. The team’s 29 wins this season are the second more in school history, and the Gamecocks will play in their second NCAA Sweet 16 in the last three seasons. Ranked as high as fourth in the nation this season – the highest mark since Jan. 1982, South Carolina has enjoyed 13 weeks among the nation’s top 10, including four ranked among the top five.

The eighth-ranked Gamecocks will take on No. 12/13 North Carolina in the Sweet 16 on Sun., Mar. 30, at 7 p.m. (ET) in Stanford, Calif., on ESPN2.

WBCA Regional Coaches of the Year

Region 1 – Geno Auriemma, Connecticut
Region 2 – Muffet McGraw, Notre Dame
Region 3 – Dawn Staley, South Carolina
Region 4, Jennifer Roos, Bowling Green State
Region 5 – Kim Mulkey, Baylor
Region 6 – Curt Miller, Indiana
Region 7 – Ryun Williams, Colorado State
Region 8 – Scott Rueck, Oregon State