Editor's Note: This interview has been lightly edited for grammar, length and clarity.
If there were to be a Mount Rushmore of the greatest Cavaliers of all time, Dawn Staley would likely be on it.
The women’s basketball star was the centerpiece of Virginia’s program from 1988-1992 and went on to become one of the greatest coaches of all time at South Carolina, winning three national titles with the Gamecocks.
But as Staley and South Carolina gear up to compete in an ever-changing NCAA landscape post-House Settlement and in the NIL frenzy, what does Staley think about the Cavaliers — and college basketball at-large? Recently, Staley spoke with The Cavalier Daily to share her thoughts.
Xander Tilock: How did your time at Virginia influence the culture you’ve built at South Carolina?
Dawn Staley: “[Coach Debbie Ryan was] an advocate for women and making sure things were equitable when I was at U.Va. So I take that from it knowing that Debbie was before her time when it comes to being aware of what we fight for, what we fight so very hard for over 30 years later, which is giving women an opportunity to be on equal footing — not even equal footing, equitable footing.”
XT: The biggest development across all of college sports, of course, is the House settlement. In your opinion, how is that affecting women's basketball?
DS: “[In] some of the top programs in the country, you get some help. You don't get the five percent help that was projected prior to the House settlement. And then you get no help from other programs who need to compete in the space. If you don't have [revenue] share dollars, [it] is really hard for you to have a top-notch program, so it hurts women's athletes and women's sports.”
XT: What are your thoughts on athletes leading the charge to create a more equitable playing space [with regards to Title IX and NIL]?
DS: “Do I think there are Title IX offenses? Yes, because I would say football coaches, men's basketball coaches and women's basketball coaches all had to parade around local senators and go to DC for a national conversation, and yet we stand here not even getting the 5 percent [of the $20.5 million cap allowed to compensate athletes]. I'm just talking about an average of 5 percent, so yes, there should have been a Title IX piece to the House settlement.”
XT: What have you seen from [Athletic Director Carla Williams] and Virginia Athletics as a whole?
DS: “When women, and Black women in particular, get an opportunity to run athletic departments, I think they do a tremendous job. And Carla leads the country in that department. [Williams has] done a tremendous job elevating U.Va. And it's a day and age where nice buildings aren't appreciated. People want NIL money. People want revenue share money. That's what they want. But she has a way of balancing both, because you can't treat the Grounds of U.Va. like any other institution.”
XT: What would you tell this 2025-26 [Virginia women’s basketball] team right now if you could give them one piece of advice?
DS: “Probably my life motto. I got two of them — you have to understand you can be disciplined to something that's not good for you, and be really good at it, but it's not helping you. And then you have to do what you don't want to do to get what you want. And that's with anything you put your heart into and you want success from. You certainly will experience some parts that you don't want to do. I know everybody wants to graduate, everybody wants to win a national championship. Well, who wants to run on that track, right? Who wants to, actually, who wants to even go to class every day?”
XT: If you could say one thing to the Virginia fanbase, encouraging them to support Coach Mox in this program and [to] go support women's sports, especially women's basketball, what would you say?
DS: “I would say Coach Mox is creating an incredible experience for her young ladies, and if they can just reach back to the times that I attended U.Va., the fans created a home court advantage that made us national championship contenders. You must first create a home court advantage in order for you to win a national championship. I came to a place at U.Va. that never won a national championship, and we never won one, but we got the three Final Fours.
My coaching came to South Carolina. We were the doormats of the SEC and we ended up winning three [national championships]. So it has to start at home, and we made it a point to get in this community and love up on this community, and then in turn, the community has loved us back in the form of us [leading] the nation in attendance [for 11 straight years].
So I want to challenge the U.Va. community — students and everybody, to create a home court advantage and challenge them to dethrone us as attendance champions, of course.”
XT: What is your go-to Bodo’s order?
DS: “I just got poppyseed with Swiss cheese toasted.”
Read More
No. 3 women’s soccer falters late in 1-1 draw with Louisville
By Sam Chun and Peter Kratz | 3 hours ago“I’m confident in our team,” Coach Steve Swanson said. “And [I] know we are capable of raising our level.”
No. 3 Virginia field hockey dominates William & Mary in five-goal shutout
By Casey Reims | 9 hours ago“We played more aggressively and creatively in the second half which led to more goals,” Coach Ole Keusgen said.
Women’s golf shows flashes of potential amid tough conclusion to fall season
By Joby Jung | 11 hours agoVirginia finished final of four fall tournaments Sunday in 15th place.
