Sterling Staley

March 22, 2002

Dawn Staley knows all aspects of the game of basketball. She is not only a player and a coach; but, she showed in Thursday's Team USA practice that she can also referee.

Whoa! Slow down, Miss Staley. You might want to let someone else do something. On better thought, nah, you go right ahead. Be it a ball, a clipboard or a whistle, having Staley running the show is a win-win situation.

Thursday was Staley's first practice with the team, and she took her playing slowly. She paced the sidelines cheering both the red and white squads, which were scrimmaging. But when coach Van Chancellor asked her to ref, the players picked up their intensity and played more carefully. And Staley had not even blown the whistle, yet.

Dawn's impact on basketball goes much deeper than her knowledge of the game. Sure, she reads the floor as well as Montana read the Cowboys defense in 1982. And yeah, she brought Temple to the NCAA Tournament in just her second year of coaching the Owls. Oh, she is wise!

But what makes Staley so wonderful for the game has nothing to do with the physical manifestations of what she knows. Staley is a student of the game. Few remain. And she feels it is her duty to instill in her players and teammates a return to the fundamentals of women's basketball.

"We (today's players) are getting more talented," the 5-6 future hall of fame point guard said. "We are moving away from being just thinkers of the game. But you're not always going to be No. 1 or the star player. You have to sometimes find your way into a coach's scheme.

"We are not working our way in the basics. We have to continue to be students of the game."

Temple won the Atlantic 10 championship this season. Temple's Men's basketball coach, John Chaney, was right at the media table cheering on Staley that Monday evening. She did her thing:  pacing the sidelines and screaming. But Staley's screaming is different than let's say Pat Summitt's. While Summitt is the winningest - and smartest - coach in women's NCAA action, it would be hard to deem her a player's coach. Staley, and not just because she is a player, is one.

"You have to talk (to your players) on their level," she said. "When you do that, you build trust. Treat them as professionals. Be consistent with them. I joke around with them. I'm silly with them. They know they can talk to me.

"I didn't want to be a coach. But, it was intriguing. The challenge of turning around the program was driving me. I wanted to see what I could do. And I see the direction the professional women's league is going. We're losing some of the fundamentals of the game. I want to keep building women's basketball and what it's based on:  team and execution."

If there is anyone who understands those two components, it is Staley. And though she is rusty and dropped some pounds from coaching this season, she says she still has a passion to play - even if her Charlotte Sting relocates.

"For me, I'll play basketball anywhere," Staley said. "(Moving) is the business of it. I learned to just deal with it.  (As) Long as there are people somewhere supporting us, I am playing."

Staley cannot retire until there is someone to pick up the ball and run with it the way she does. There might be quicker players, better shooters and more athletic women now, but it is Staley who is revered as a great point guard with a great mind.

She said: "If people can add being cerebral with the talent, it's beautiful."

Staley's impact on the game surely is.

Niki will be covering the 2002 Women's Final Four  (March 29 and 31) in San Antonio and providing stories from the big event.  Check back here for her articles.

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