Close links between Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer and South Carolina’s Dawn Staley

Close links between Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer and South Carolina’s Dawn Staley

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South Carolina’s Dawn Staley has long appreciated the advice she received from Tara VanDerveer of Stanford when Staley was ready to embark on her career as a head coach in 2000.

Staley, whose Gamecocks faced VanDerveer’s Cardinal in a national semifinal in San Antonio on Friday, played for VanDerveer on the 1996 US gold medal winning Olympic team.

Four years later, Staley – a dynamic guard – was still playing at the WNBA when Temple made him an offer to become his head coach.

She asked VanDerveer if she should take the job.

“I remember her saying, ‘Don’t do this,'” Staley told a news conference at Zoom on Thursday. “When she said that, it was magnetic. I said, ‘I have to take this job’.

“And for me, I need some kind of chip. I think Tara saying that gave me a little advantage to prove that she was wrong. “

Staley made it clear that he understood VanDerveer’s perspective, thinking that the time and effort required to play professionally would not allow Staley to devote the time and effort necessary to lead a Division I program – or vice versa.

“I thank her,” said Staley. “Twenty-one years later, making that decision was the most rewarding decision of all.”

Staley served as a double coach in 2006. She left Temple in 2008 to take over the South Carolina program. She took Gamecocks to the national title in 2017.

South Carolina Gamecocks striker Mikiah Herbert Harrigan (21) leads the bench to the court after taking the upset with Stanford being defeated by South Carolina in the 2017 NCAA Women's Final Four semifinals on Friday, March 31, 2017. (Photo by Stewart F. House)
South Carolina Gamecocks striker Mikiah Herbert Harrigan (21) leads the bench to the court after taking the upset with Stanford being defeated by South Carolina in the 2017 NCAA Women’s Final Four semifinals on Friday, March 31, 2017. (Photo by Stewart F. House)Stewart F. House / Special for The Chronicle

In the Final Four of that year, South Carolina overcame a nine-point deficit at the break to beat Stanford 62-53.

This was not the first time that Staley faced a Cardinal team led by VanDerveer in a national semifinal. In 1992, Staley’s senior season in Virginia ended with a 66-65 loss to Stanford, who won his second NCAA title the following day by defeating Western Kentucky.

Before training South Carolina for No. 1 and a 22-0 record this season, Dawn Staley was twice the national player of the year at the University of Virginia. Staley played three Final Fours for the Cavaliers under Debbie Ryan, who was head of Geno Auriemma for four seasons until he left for UConn in 1985. Runner-up Huskies (22-1) will host Staley and the Gamecocks on Monday night on Storrs.
Before training South Carolina for No. 1 and a 22-0 record this season, Dawn Staley was twice the national player of the year at the University of Virginia. Staley played three Final Fours for the Cavaliers under Debbie Ryan, who was head of Geno Auriemma for four seasons until he left for UConn in 1985. Runner-up Huskies (22-1) will host Staley and the Gamecocks on Monday night on Storrs.Photo contributed / University of / Photo contributed / University of

At the VanDerveer Zoom session on Thursday, she said that Staley “was something special as a player and incredibly special as a coach. I loved training Dawn. “

Said Staley: “I would give Tara my last for just instilling in me some of the things I use today. Your cinema sessions are a platform for learning and growing as a player. “

Staley admires VanDerveer’s ability to avoid complicating things, saying that anyone who “meets Tara will come out with something she said is so profound, yet so simple. It keeps everything as simple as possible. Everything she says is related to a child of 2 or 80 years old.

“Her reach is very powerful.”

Kiana Williams, shown, helped lead Stanford's comeback at Elite Eight.

Kiana Williams, shown, helped lead Stanford’s comeback at Elite Eight.

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VanDerveer, 67, and Staley, 50, were inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, VanDerveer in 2011, Staley two years later. This summer, if the pandemic allows, Staley will follow in VanDerveer’s footsteps as coach of the United States Olympic team.

Staley has 503 coaching victories in her career, leaving her only 620 shy of VanDerveer, who has accumulated a female record of 1,123.

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