USA – USA assistant coach Staley to leave Owls for Gamecocks

COLUMBIA (NCAA) – Dawn Staley, the point guard on Team USA’s gold medal-winning Olympic teams in 1996, 2000 and 2004, is to leave Temple University to become the head coach of the University of South Carolina.

Staley will be the head coach of the Gamecocks once the appointment is confirmed by the University’s Board of Trustees.

She is replacing Susan Walvius, who coached South Carolina for 11 seasons but stepped down at the end of the 2007-08 campaign.

South Carolina, who played in the tough SEC, were 51-103 (.331) in conference play under Walvius.

This summer, the 38-year-old Staley will work as an assistant coach to Team USA boss Anne Donovan at the Beijing Games.

She was just in Beijing where the US finished runners-up to China at the 2008 Beijing Basketball Test Event.

Staley played at the University of Virginia before embarking on a professional career that saw her play in Europe and the United States.

She was still a USA international but jumped at the chance to coach Temple back in her home city of Philadelphia.

In her eight years there, she led the Owls to four Atlantic 10 Tournament titles, six NCAA appearances and the program's first national ranking.

FIBA