Uncommon Favor

Dawn Staley is born on May 4, 1970, and grows up in the Raymond Rosen housing projects in North Philadelphia. Her family includes her loving and disciplined mother, Estelle; her quiet father, Clarence, a construction worker who runs numbers as a bookie; and four older siblings, Lawrence, Anthony (Pete), Tracey, and Eric. Estelle, a devout Christian who cleans houses for a living, instills in her children the lesson that "the disciplined person can do anything," enforcing strict rules and curfews. Clarence disapproves of his daughter's passion for basketball, viewing it as unfeminine. As a shy and introverted child, Staley finds her voice on the basketball court, which becomes her primary means of expression, playing for hours with the neighborhood boys using milk crates for hoops in a crowded home and a tight-knit but tough community.

In eighth grade, a basketball camp mailer from Dartmouth College, which Staley misinterprets as a recruitment letter, ignites her ambition to play in college and the Olympics. She hones her skills at the local Moylan Recreation Center, inspired by the work ethic of neighborhood legend Hank Gathers, whose tragic death on the court deeply affects her. She earns the respect of the older boys and is eventually chosen for the prestigious "first ten" pickup games. Her talent catches the eye of John Chaney, the men's basketball coach at Temple University. After a difficult adjustment to playing on all-girls' teams, she matures and leads her Murrell Dobbins Tech high school team to an undefeated record throughout her career, earning the title of national high school player of the year. Her mother advises her never to be ashamed of her background, a lesson that shapes her public identity. After winning her first Olympic gold medal in 1996, she suffers a period of depression, and her Richmond Rage coach, Lisa Boyer, provides crucial support. This period solidifies her commitment to service, later leading her to found the INNERSOLE charity.

Staley chooses to attend the University of Virginia (UVA), drawn by the superior dorms and the chance to build a championship program. She experiences intense culture shock in the predominantly white, affluent environment of Charlottesville, feeling isolated and struggling academically. Her poor grades lead to a confrontation with a dean who tells her she must "conform," triggering her defiant "North Philly" attitude. Her head coach, Debbie Ryan, advocates for her and employs a patient, individualized coaching style that helps Staley develop both as a player and a person. Staley adapts, improves her grades, and becomes a vocal leader on the court, guiding the UVA team to three consecutive Final Fours. Her college career ends in heartbreak with a 66-65 loss to Stanford in the 1992 semifinal, denying her the national championship she desperately wanted.

After graduating in 1992, Staley faces an uncertain future with no professional women's league in the U.S. She is cut from the 1992 Olympic team for lacking international experience, which motivates her to play overseas. While struggling with homesickness in Spain, a line from the movie House Party, "You have to do what you don't want to do to get what you want," becomes her personal motto. In 1995, she makes the USA Basketball women's national team and endures a year of grueling training under coach Tara VanDerveer. The team understands that their success in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics is critical for launching a professional league in the U.S. After an injury costs her a starting spot, Staley embraces her role leading the second unit, and the team wins the gold medal. This victory helped spur the creation of two new professional leagues, the ABL and the WNBA, and Staley plays in both leagues before retiring in 2005. At the 2004 Athens Olympics, the captains of the USA teams select her as the flag bearer for Team USA, an honor that helps her recognize her own leadership abilities.

In 2000, while still an active WNBA player, Staley accepts the head coaching position at Temple University. Overwhelmed by her dual responsibilities, she builds a strong staff. She persuades veteran coach Lisa Boyer, who had been her indispensable mentor since her ABL days, to join her. A victory in the 2002 A-10 Championship solidifies her love for coaching and the reward of collective success. After eight years, she realizes she has reached a ceiling at Temple and cannot win a national title there. In 2008, she accepts the head coaching job at the University of South Carolina (USC), drawn by the resources of the SEC and the opportunity to bring her aging mother back to her home state. The first few years at USC are disastrous, as she inherits a team that lacks a winning mentality, leading to losing seasons and profound self-doubt.

Staley realizes she must shift her coaching philosophy from "process over people" to building personal connections and recruiting players who are passionate about basketball. She and her staff cultivate a strong fan base and community support, slowly building the program. This new approach culminates in the team's first national championship in 2017.

In 2021, inspired by a viral video exposing inequities at the NCAA tournament, Staley successfully negotiates a contract with South Carolina that gives her pay equal to her male counterpart, setting a new precedent for female coaches. She uses her platform to address racial and gender bias, calling out coded language used to describe her predominantly Black team and publicly supporting the inclusion of transgender athletes. In 2018, she files a successful defamation lawsuit against the University of Missouri's athletic director, Jim Sterk, after he falsely accuses her of promoting a hostile environment. She embraces her role as a leader who must engage in "uncomfortable conversations" to advocate for her players and promote social change.

Staley's coaching and life are guided by an intuition she calls "look, sound, feel," honed during her childhood. This instinct proves crucial when she coaches the 2020 Olympic team to a gold medal, trusting her gut to change the starting lineup after early losses. Her coaching philosophy centers on instilling strong habits and being candid with her players, a lesson she learned after pushing a young point guard too hard early in her USC tenure. She also navigates the new landscape of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) by helping her players secure agents while keeping them focused on their long-term goals.

Her personal life is marked by deep family bonds and harrowing trials. She recounts her brother Pete's long struggle with drug addiction and her sister Tracey's battle with leukemia, which she survives after a bone marrow transplant from their brother Lawrence. Her Christian faith, instilled by her mother, serves as the foundation of her life, though her public expressions of it sometimes draw criticism. She details her mother Estelle's decline from Alzheimer's disease and her passing in 2017. Staley also reveals that she coached the entire 2017 championship season while secretly suffering from acute pericarditis, a painful heart condition. She reflects on her journey as an "odds beater," committed to being a "dream merchant" for young people and forever indebted to the game of basketball for giving her a purpose and a voice."