South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley made waves when she interviewed for the then-vacant head coaching job of the New York Knicks at the end of June.
Staley, however, isn’t convinced NBA teams are prepared to make history and hire the first woman as head coach.
“If I’m the Knicks coach and the Knicks have a five-game losing streak, it’s not going to be about the losing streak, it’s going to be about being a female coach,” Staley said Tuesday, Oct. 14, during the SEC’s media day session. “So you, as an organization and a franchise, you have to be prepared for that and strong enough to ignore those types of instances when you’re going to look to hire a female coach.’
Staley , 55, is entering her 18th season as the head coach of the Gamecocks and said in August she would’ve taken the Knicks job if it had been offered. Despite that, Staley doesn’t think she’ll live to see that type of trailblazing hire.
“No, I don’t,” Staley added when asked directly if she thought an NBA team would hire a woman as head coach in her lifetime. “And I hope I’m wrong.”
Staley said her interview with New York was legitimate and came about because of her prior relationship with Knicks president Leon Rose and executive vice president and senior basketball advisor William Wesley, otherwise known as “Worldwide Wes.”
Winner of three national championships over the last nine seasons, Staley is widely considered to be one of the all-time great coaches in women’s college basketball history.
The Knicks ultimately tabbed Mike Brown as their head coach, replacing Tom Thibodeau, who was fired in June.
Although Staley was pessimistic about an NBA team potentially hiring a woman as head coach, she said her experience with the Knicks was informative and vowed to help any other female candidates with what the interview process might entail.
“If there is somebody that is interested in knowing and interested in being the first female NBA coach and such, I’ve got all the information,” Staley said. “Come see me, cause I’ll get you prepared for the interview. And if there are NBA franchises that are interested in hiring a female, I’m here, too, because you’ve got to be ready to take that on that and all the things that it comes with because it’s not just about hiring the first female coach.”
South Carolina announced Monday, Oct. 13, that senior forward Chloe Kitts will miss the entire 2025-26 season due to injury. The Gamecocks are entering the 2025-26 season ranked No. 2 in the AP preseason Top 25 poll.