Former UVa All-American Staley staying at South Carolina

by Jerry Ratcliffe on March 30th, 2011

The obvious fan favorite to replace legendary Virginia women’s basketball coach Debbie Ryan, said today she is not interested in returning to her alma mater at this time.

Dawn Staley, a three-time All-American under Ryan in the early 1990s, issued a statement today from the University of South Carolina media relations department that she has decided to remain as the head coach of the Gamecocks, a position she has held for the past three years.

“A lot of people have been talking about me going to Virginia since Debbie Ryan stepped down, and I understand that,“ Staley said. “It’s my alma mater, where I was really shaped as a person, so it’s a natural conversation to have. In the end, Virginia is going in a different direction, and I’m staying at the University of South Carolina because I truly believe we have a bright future here.

“The more I thought about it, the more I didn’t want to leave because of the direction we have this program going,“ Staley said. “The players we have coming in next year are going to help us grow even more, and the groundwork our coaching staff is laying with future classes has been outstanding. We feel like we have a gold mine here, and I’m confident our best days at South Carolina are ahead of us.“

Whether or not Staley talked to Virginia about the coaching vacancy remained unclear. UVa director of athletics Craig Littlepage sought and was granted permission from USC’s AD, Eric Hyman, to speak with Staley earlier this week.

Staley, whose jersey is retired at Virginia, has made steady progress in building South Carolina’s program, going from 14 to 18 overall wins over the past three season and from only two to eight wins in the SEC. Three of the nation’s top women’s basketball recruits over the next two years reside close to the Gamecocks’ recruiting territory and Staley has to feel as if she has a shot to land all three.

With Staley out of the race, it appears that Virginia’s focus is on Georgetown coach Terri Williams-Flournoy and UCLA coach Nikki Caldwell. Reports on at least one website dedicated to women’s basketball coverage said that Caldwell has interviewed for the UVa job and other reports had the former Cavaliers’ assistant coach on campus Monday.

Williams-Flournoy is the sister of state AAU basketball guru Boo Williams of the Hampton area. She led the Hoyas to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1993 this past season. Reports had Littlepage in Philadelphia over the weekend at the Georgetown vs. Connecticut game, a contest in which Georgetown led into the second half before falling to the top-seeded Huskies.

Caldwell, a former Tennessee player, was named Pac 10 Coach of the Year in 2010 and her team finished 28-5 this season.

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