South Carolina’s Dawn Staley Said She Isn’t interested in NBA, WNBA Jobs

The Gamecocks head coach is happy where she is.

South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley is coming off her second national championship, but she doesn’t seem done yet. While appearing on ESPN’s Jalen and Jacoby, Staley said she isn’t interested in making a move to coach in the NBA or WNBA yet.

“There isn’t an ounce of me that has the desire to go to the next level. I think my passion is for young people,” Staley said. “I guess that both leagues are getting younger and younger and younger, but my passion is to make sure that our league is in a good place. Like, the WNBA needs great, young people to keep it going. If that itch comes to coach on the next level—I’m getting older, so if it hasn’t come yet, I don’t think it’s going to come.”

Staley has been a women’s college basketball head coach since 2000, including each of the last 15 years with the Gamecocks. From 2000 to ’06, Staley coached at Temple while still playing in the WNBA.

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While she did a good job at Temple, Staley took her coaching to another level at South Carolina. She’s made four Final Fours and won the title twice since the 2014 season. This year, she won her second Coach of the Year award and became the first African-American head coach to win two National Championships in either men’s or women’s college basketball.

While Staley seems happy in Columbia, some people have suggested both NBA and WNBA teams should consider hiring her.

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