Philadelphia Native, Three-Time NCAA Champ Dawn Staley Backs Temple WBB

Before she became a six-time WNBA All-Star, was the Naismith Player of the Year at UVA, won three NCAA Championships as the head coach at South Carolina or represented the United States in a trio of Olympic Gold-winning teams, Dawn Staley grew up in North Philadelphia and attended Murrell Dobbins Vocational High School.

Although she’s spent much of the past two decades as the Gamecocks’ head coach, Staley remains close to the Temple Owls, located in the part of Philadelphia she grew up in. Staley also got her start as a head coach with the Owls between 2000 and 2008.

Her ties to North Philly became apparent on Monday, Oct. 20 when Staley pledged to match any donation made to Temple Women’s Basketball during the next week, an unprecedented move for an active coach of another collegiate program.

“When you grow up in North Philly, Temple was the place to be,” Staley said in a promotional video tied to the announcement. “I honed my skills on the playgrounds of North Philly and then in McGonigle Hall… Temple, Philly, North Philly was synonymous with basketball.”

The Owls went 19-10 last season, putting them in a three-way tie atop the AAC, but were unable to make the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year after falling in the conference semifinals. Now in their fourth season under head coach Diane Richardson, Temple has friends in high places — a Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer and one of the greatest coaches that women’s college basketball has ever seen.