Dawn Staley’s parents moved to North Philadelphia from Orangeburg County, South Carolina, in the 1950s.
Dawn Staley had never lost a national championship game, but that changed on Sunday, April 6, 2025, when South Carolina women’s basketball fell 82-59 to UConn.
The Gamecocks coach made no excuses for the loss. In the post-game news conference, Dawn said,
“We lost to a very, very good basketball team,” “They beat our ass but they didn’t make us like it. There’s a difference.”
Dawn Staley
She joined the South Carolina Gamecocks in 2008 and started with 10 wins during the 2008-09 season.
Under Staley, the Gamecocks have captured nine SEC regular-season championships, nine tournament titles, and six Final Fours.
In 2021, Staley led her team to a third Final Four before losing a controversial game to Stanford 66-65.
On October 15, 2021, Staley signed a seven-year, $22.4 million contract extension with South Carolina, making her the country’s highest-paid Black basketball coach.
Staley won her 600th game on February 22, 2024, in 786 games (534 at South Carolina). She guided the team to a perfect 38-0, winning their 3rd national title.
Dawn Staley Was Raised By Her Mother, Estelle, After The Death Of Her Father, Clarence
Dawn Staley, 54, was born on May 4, 1970, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, to her father, Clarence, and her mother, Estelle Staley.
She grew up with her four siblings, Lawrence, Anthony, Tracey, and Eric Staley. They have always been Dawn’s constant supporters.
Her parents migrated from Orangeburg County, South Carolina, to North Philadelphia in the 1950s as teenagers.
They married in the 1960s and moved to a three-bedroom, single-bath row house in the Raymond Rosen Homes housing project in 1967.
Later, Clarence started working as a part-time carpenter, and Estelle was a homemaker.
Sadly, Dawn’s parents remained married for nearly 45 years, until the tragic passing of Clarence in 2006 due to illness.
Estelle raised Dawn and her siblings as a single mother. She had a stroke shortly before Dawn took her job in South Carolina in 2009.
However, Estelle passed away on August 10, 2017, at 74, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s.
Funeral services for Estelle were held at the Bethlehem Baptist Church, 187 Williams Street, Woodford, SC, with entombment in Greenlawn Memorial Gardens.
About a year after Estelle died, in June 2018, Dawn donated her mother’s wheelchair to a family in need.
Dawn posted on Twitter and wrote,
seeking a family who could use a “sentimental wheelchair that was used by my mother.”
Dawn Staley
Audrey Davis responded on Twitter just a few minutes later, saying her father had a stroke and they didn’t have a wheelchair for him.
Later, Staley left the wheelchair at the Gamecocks’ team office for Davis.
In Case You Didn’t Know
- Dawn Staley was named the national high school player of the year during her final season at Murrell Dobbins Vocational High School in Philadelphia.
- Staley heads the Dawn Staley Foundation, which focuses on academics and athletics and sponsors basketball leagues and other fund-raising activities.
- She owns a Havanese dog named Champ, who has his own Twitter account and frequently visits practices.
- Staley is a fan of the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles. While coaching the Gamecocks, she often wore their jerseys throughout the 2022 NFL season.
