May 12, 2014
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – University of South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley was one of three head coaches selected to serve as assistant coaches for the 2014 USA Basketball Women’s World Championship Team, USA Basketball announced today. She joins DePaul’s Doug Bruno and Cheryl Reeve of the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx on the staff, chosen by the USA Basketball Women’s National Team Steering Committee, to work with head coach Geno Auriemma. Staley and Bruno have both served as assistant coaches for USA Basketball at the FIBA World Championship and Olympic Games – Staley in 2006 and 2008, and Bruno in 2010 and 2012.
“Overall, I think we have a great mix,” Auriemma said. “We certainly have enough experience, both USA Basketball-wise, college, pro; we have a great mix of personalities that I think is going to be really, really good. We have some continuity with Doug back. We have an opportunity to bring in some younger coaches, who hopefully aspire down the road to be head coaches at USA Basketball. They’re proven winners. They’re the kind of people that USA Basketball is really important to them, and most importantly, they’re people I can work with, people I have a lot of respect for and I think the committee did a great job.”
The trio of coaches will assist Auriemma during the USA National Team’s training camp, which kicks off Sept. 7-10 at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. While the remainder of the training schedule is to be announced, the team will compete in the 2014 FIBA World Championship in Istanbul, Turkey, Sept. 27-Oct. 5.
“I’m really looking forward to getting back into the USA Basketball network,” Staley said. “It’s reliving some of the best days of my life. To be able to work with Geno, Doug and Cheryl, it’s going to open me up as a coach to learn different things. I’m looking forward to the challenge, and I’m looking forward to, as always, winning the gold medal.”
No stranger to USA Basketball, Staley as an athlete won 10 gold medals, including three Olympic and two FIBA World Championship gold medals, one bronze medal and seven international invitational titles from 1989-2004. She then transitioned into the coaching ranks, received her first USA Basketball coaching assignment as an assistant to the 2006 USA World Championship Team and was later asked to remain on board through the 2008 Olympics. With Staley assisting on the sideline, the USA National Team from 2006-08 posted a 32-2 record, captured the 2008 Olympic and 2007 FIBA Americas Championship gold medals and the 2006 FIBA World Championship bronze medal. Staley also served as head coach for the 2007 USA Pan American Games Team that claimed gold with a perfect 5-0 record and will head up the 2014 USA U18 National Team coaching staff this summer.
“I think I bring my experience of playing and coaching USA Basketball internationally,” Staley said. “I still know some of the players, and have played with some of the players, who will probably be on the team. So, I add a different perspective, being able to relate to them and know their style of play, as well as being a good teammate. Just helping Geno in his quest to win another World Championship and add my expertise as someone who has played and coached at the World Championship level. I just want to be a great addition to the staff.”
Through six seasons at South Carolina, Staley has compiled a 121-71 (.630) record and posted 25-win seasons in each of the past three years. In 2013-14 she led the Gamecocks to a 29-5 mark, the program’s first Southeastern Conference regular season title and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament where she advanced her team to the Sweet Sixteen. Staley in 2014 was named the SEC Coach of the Year, WBCA Region 3 Coach of the Year and was one of four finalists for the Naismith National Coach of the Year award.
The final 12-member 2014 USA World Championship Team will be selected from the 2014-16 USA National Team Pool.
