Dawn Staley's road to Tampa begins in Philadelphia

ALMOST 40 YEARS agone successful North Philadelphia, Dawn Staley was walking location from precocious schoolhouse 1 day with a person from the neighborhood, erstwhile thing singular happened. Or much to the point, didn't happen.

She lived successful a rowhome successful the Raymond Rosen lodging projects. Her friend, Charles Gathers, had grown up successful the precocious rises crossed Diamond Street but had precocious moved to Staley's broadside of the projects. The 2 of them, and Gathers' relative Patrice, were making their mode backmost to Raymond Rosen, helium remembers, erstwhile a antheral jumped successful beforehand of them and tried to drawback Patrice. Another man, this 1 with a knife, followed connected his heels. Gathers was astir to measurement in, erstwhile the men recognized Staley -- that abbreviated miss who tin play hoops with immoderate boy. Whatever their plans were, Gathers recalls, seeing Staley changed their minds. The men retreated. Basically vanished.

This was the quality of Staley's portion of the city: "If you lived successful a definite area, you couldn't spell extracurricular your country to adjacent play a game, due to the fact that of the assorted pack affiliations," says Doyt Jones, who was 1 of Staley's precocious schoolhouse coaches. But with Staley, "Nobody was going to endanger her oregon thing similar that, due to the fact that they recognized her diversion ability."

Her crippled was her passport. She was tiny but played big. She was young but played old. She was a miss but had nary occupation playing against the boys. Her crippled felt arsenic if it were made for Philadelphia, made of Philadelphia, brimming with the aforesaid "extraordinary intelligence and carnal toughness" Bo Kimble says the metropolis and its radical did. Kimble, who grew up successful North Philly, played assemblage shot successful Southern California and nonrecreational shot each implicit the world, but nothing, helium says, was tougher than Philly ball.

By the clip Staley was approaching precocious school, the fable of Dawn Staley, Philly baller -- that abbreviated miss who tin play with immoderate boy -- had traveled arsenic accelerated arsenic those would-be aggressors disappeared into the North Philadelphia ether.

"She had gained the respect of the full city," Kimble says.

Now, Staley is vying for her 4th nationalist title arsenic caput manager of the South Carolina women's hoops team. There's been a Geno Auriemma era, and a Pat Summitt era, and Staley is moving to cement a caller age. The Dawn Staley era. At 54, she has reached near-mythical heights connected the hoops tribunal -- archetypal arsenic a player, past arsenic a manager -- but it's the communicative of a adjacent run-in connected a thoroughfare successful North Philadelphia that gets to the bosom of her enduring resonance successful each the places this crippled has taken her.

Dawn Staley has ever meant thing much connected the crushed she walks on. She has transcended the crippled successful the places she has called home.

STALEY IS GROUNDED now, stopped successful a passageway astatine Colonial Life Arena successful Columbia, South Carolina.

Thirty minutes aft South Carolina defeated Kentucky successful its regular-season finale, agelong aft the Gamecocks locked successful a stock of the SEC regular-season rubric -- their ninth, and 4th successful a row, each nether Staley -- the manager is inactive attending to the masses.

There's a stocky man, who looks to beryllium immoderate benignant of information detail, doing his level champion to usher her distant from the tribunal and the throng of fans who are inactive lining either broadside of the tunnel, jockeying for her signature, oregon a selfie, oregon a shred of her time. His efforts are mostly thwarted. It's the archetypal Sunday successful March and the radical who flock to Colonial Life Arena successful NCAA record-breaking droves -- past season, much than 270,000 -- are successful church.

Staley is yet astir to caput each the mode wrong erstwhile she stops abbreviated astatine the dependable of a instrumentality screaming her name. She looks up and shouts back, a whiff of anticipation successful her voice.

"You from up north?"

He's not.

"Then wherefore americium I proceeding Doooooawn?"

She rounds those oh's, similar the Philadelphian she is, stretching them agelong and slow, massaging her sanction into thing much than 2 syllables.

The archetypal clip Darrell Gates remembers proceeding Staley's sanction was successful precocious school, astatine his teammate's location successful Raymond Rosen. Gates lived up the street, but connected the mode to Dobbins, the schoolhouse wherever they each attended and played basketball, he'd walk done the neighborhood, conscionable a fewer blocks from the Moylan Rec Center.

For years, Cheryl Hardy worked astatine the halfway connected Diamond Street, and she'd unfastened the gymnasium astatine nighttime for Staley to play shot by herself. The halfway had a slippery aged parquet level and nary solid backboard connected the hoops. "It was horrible," says Jimmy Richardson, who grew up with Staley and present works alongside Hardy astatine the center. "But we didn't care. It was our Garden."

These days, it's called the Hank Gathers Recreation Center. Like Staley, Gathers was a section fable whose endowment took him acold from Philadelphia. In 1989 astatine Loyola Marymount, helium became the 2nd subordinate successful NCAA past to pb the federation successful scoring and rebounding; helium died a twelvemonth later, collapsing connected the tribunal due to the fact that of a bosom musculus disorder. A mural of Gathers present sits alongside 1 of Staley connected the walls of the rec center, keeping ticker implicit the indoor courts.

It was Gathers who archetypal alerted Darrell Gates to a thrilling ninth grader named Doooooawn Staley. He nudged a portion into the VCR and told his person to ticker this girl's crippled film. "We were sitting connected the borderline of the couch," Gates says, "We couldn't judge what she was doing. We were conscionable sitting up determination laughing due to the fact that we conscionable couldn't judge it."

She'd person her backmost turned to a defender, past lob a walk implicit their head. She'd propulsion the shot done immoderate mediocre sap's legs. Her otherworldly quality to find her intended people made Gathers and Gates intent connected seeing more, and earlier practice, they'd sneak implicit to ticker her games astatine Dobbins. They'd dispersed the connection astir Staley to teammates specified arsenic Kimble. "Nobody tin halt her," Kimble recalls of their breathless reviews. "The fellas can't halt her."

Their connection was dogma successful North Philly. She had this stunning endowment and the stamp of support from immoderate of the city's astir revered players, truthful erstwhile she wanted to play against boys her age, she could. "And they'd prime her first," says Debbie Ryan, who coached Staley successful assemblage astatine Virginia and saw her play for the archetypal clip successful Philadelphia. "Because she could get 'em the ball."

She did much than gain a spot connected the tribunal with the boys. She became the main attraction. "Her sanction started circulatin'," Richardson says. "When your sanction starts circulatin', everybody wants to fig retired wherever that idiosyncratic is at. 'Where we goin'? Where we goin'?'"

There she'd be, reveling successful the fierceness of vicinity ball, dispensing but besides blessed to person a Philadelphia foul -- not your run-of-the-mill carnal foul, Kimble says, but a foul truthful carnal it verges connected disrespect. You had to foul similar you wanted to interruption immoderate bones due to the fact that if you didn't, you'd suffer the game. If you weren't connected the court, you weren't getting better. And they -- Staley and Gathers, Gates and Kimble -- had to get amended to get wherever they were going.

Today, a plaque astatine the Hank Gathers Rec Center bears a connection from Staley: "25th and Diamond is wherever dreams start!"

NORTH PHILADELPHIA IS an casual spot to emotion but a hard spot to survive.

Darrell Clarke grew up successful Strawberry Mansion, 5 blocks distant from Staley. For astir 24 years, helium represented that aforesaid vicinity -- including the Hank Gathers Rec Center -- arsenic a metropolis councilman. He says helium saw firsthand however authorities disinvestment eroded his neighborhood. How national backing earmarked for lodging successful low-income communities got redirected to physique buying malls elsewhere. "If you disinvest truthful overmuch successful a peculiar community, yet the radical volition leave," Clarke says. "But an absorbing happening happened on the way. Most of the radical decided, 'We're not gonna leave. We similar our neighborhood.'"

By the clip Dawn Staley came along, her inheritance, Kimble says, was, "Everything ... crime, drugs, violence, a batch of abandoned buildings, a batch of blight."

But it was besides the spot where, erstwhile Hank Gathers died, older guys from astir Raymond Rosen would support a watchful oculus connected his younger brother, Charles. They became his family, his protectors. No, helium couldn't bent connected that artifact anymore due to the fact that different radical crossed the thoroughfare mightiness beryllium doing drugs oregon selling them. No, helium couldn't conscionable idle his time away.

"The metropolis has a definite pulse astir it," Staley said successful 2017. "It's real. It's authentic. It's genuine. I'm not saying that it's ever positive, but you cognize what you're getting, and that's appealing."

To this day, Staley makes wide precisely wherever she's from. "Sometimes radical who grew up successful definite types of environments, they effort to enactment like, 'Oh, I'm supra that now,''' Clarke says. "She emphasized that. You know, 'I'm from North Philadelphia. And that's a large thing.' The radical of North Philadelphia admit that, you know?"

In the aboriginal 2000s, Staley multitasked the extremity of her nonrecreational playing days with the onset of her coaching career. She was a perennial WNBA All-Star, and for 8 years -- the archetypal six of which she was inactive playing successful the league -- she was Temple's women's hoops coach. The field was a mile from her location successful North Philly, and erstwhile players callback however she'd haul her squad down Diamond Street. She wanted them to spot her block, and her home, and her 2nd home. She ever comes backmost to the rec center.

Inside, there's a bluish rubber tribunal that Staley helped committee to regenerate the aged parquet one. A replica NCAA title trophy she talented the halfway sits conscionable extracurricular the doors that pb to the courts. The vigor successful the gathering stays connected successful the wintertime due to the fact that she called Clarke 1 time to fto him cognize she'd been backmost and it was breached and needed fixing. "She truly started leaning connected maine to marque definite that things got done," helium says. "Not lone for the recreation center, but for the neighborhood."

Kahleah Copper lived successful the vicinity too, connected Diamond Street, successful Raymond Rosen, erstwhile she was a kid. Now 30, she's a WNBA All-Star and an Olympic golden medalist. Back erstwhile she'd predominant the rec center, guys from the vicinity would ticker her play and her fearlessness looked familiar. "Oh, you're trying to beryllium the adjacent Dawn, huh?"

They could spot it. Copper could too. "She heightened my ceiling," she says. "What I thought was imaginable for me."

Here was this idiosyncratic who looked similar Copper and who came from wherever she came from. Here was this idiosyncratic who knew what it was to emotion a spot and inactive combat to emergence supra it. Staley had near these breadcrumbs of herself behind, a way forward.

"When she comes back, she wants you to interaction her," Richardson says. "She wants you to cognize that she's existent truthful you cognize you tin bash it. You tin marque it."

THERE WERE A brace of outdoor courts successful Charlottesville, Virginia, wherever the hoops had concatenation nets, the floodlights went connected astatine night, and Staley could shot retired with the locals.

Staley came to play hoops for the University of Virginia successful 1988, and successful the offseason, erstwhile the Cavaliers didn't person immoderate organized practices, she'd instrumentality disconnected for the Dell, a parkland conscionable disconnected campus, with Tammi Reiss, her roommate and teammate. Reiss would ticker her connected the tribunal -- "She got consecutive nasty astatine the Dell," Reiss says -- and deliberation to herself, Oh, there she is. There is Dawn from Philly.

In 1 game, Staley crossed up a defender and the adjacent clip down the court, she went to chopped in, and helium threw her into a pole. She popped up, shook her head, her hairsbreadth flopping -- acceptable successful a benignant her teammates astatine the clip lovingly called a "mushroom cut" -- and changeable the antheral a look. The different guys connected Staley's squad tried to enactment arsenic protectors, but she shook them disconnected too.

"No, man," Reiss remembers Staley reassuring the players connected the tribunal that night. "We good. You gonna play similar that?"

A shove into a rod felt awfully adjacent to a Philadelphia foul, aft all.

Not overmuch other successful Charlottesville looked similar Staley's aged world. Back home, her vicinity was "100% Black," she has said. But the twelvemonth she joined Virginia, lone 14% of first-year students were Black. Basketball was basketball, and that translated, but everything distant from the tribunal was a daze to her system, her aged teammates and coaches say.

"I deliberation her archetypal interrogation she virtually threw up," Reiss says. "She physically got sick."

She was expected to speech to her professors, one-on-one, but: "In the beginning, she conscionable wouldn't bash it," Ryan says.

Reiss says Staley yet grew into her relation arsenic a nationalist look of the team. Ryan echoes that with time, Staley embraced the expectations and civilization of this caller place. But connected 1 captious point, Staley was unwavering.

"Dawn ne'er near who she was," Reiss says. "She ne'er conformed to her surroundings. The mode her parent raised her was to clasp and beryllium her authentic aforesaid and cognize it's OK to beryllium that successful antithetic places."

Staley's hairsbreadth stayed the same. The mode she dressed. The mode she spoke. She did not soil distant those hallmarks, not erstwhile she arrived, nor by the clip she left, 4 years and 3 Final Four appearances later. That enactment of rebellion, oregon astatine slightest of nonconformance, served Staley. It's the precise crushed she has said she is capable to bash what she has done astatine South Carolina -- due to the fact that of who she was successful Virginia, and who she refused not to be.

"I wasn't intimidated, but I was uncomfortable," she erstwhile said. "But I got done it."

Staley kept a steadfast grip connected her roots but opened her arms to what was caller and chartless astir Virginia, and successful that saccharine spot, Reiss says, radical felt they could subordinate to her and recognize her, beryllium understood by her. "People flocked to Dawn," Reiss says.

Reiss came to Virginia with Staley, and near with her too. She was determination for each infinitesimal that added up to the Cavaliers' 3 heavy tourney runs, to Staley's 2 nationalist subordinate of the twelvemonth awards. But what she thinks of now, erstwhile she considers the value of Staley's beingness successful Charlottesville, is this: the information of radical reaching retired for Staley, wanting to beryllium adjacent her, seen by her.

Reiss remembers being successful the suite she shared with Staley their elder play erstwhile the constabulary called. A 16-year-old miss was connected the extortion of a parking structure, threatening to jump, and the constabulary had been capable to speech to her capable to discern this much: She loved Dawn Staley. At their request, Staley made her mode to the scene, spoke to the miss connected the borderline of a factual structure, and sat with her for 2 hours successful a constabulary presumption erstwhile she came down connected her own.

"That's who Dawn had started to become," Reiss says.

She had started to go impervious -- of what a idiosyncratic tin mean to a place, adjacent erstwhile they are not of that place. Proof of what it tin mean to different idiosyncratic if you cognize what you mean to yourself.

BY NOW, STALEY has called South Carolina location for conscionable astir arsenic agelong arsenic she had Raymond Rosen. This past autumn marked the commencement of her 16th twelvemonth successful Columbia; she was hardly 18 erstwhile she near North Philadelphia for Charlottesville.

In the beginning, Staley lived successful Columbia proper, but she moved conscionable crossed the span to West Columbia years ago, and recovered walking the way on the Congaree River, which snakes by her backyard, was its ain enactment of community. She sees her neighbors, specified arsenic Joseph Dickey, who's besides a councilman for West Columbia, and asks aft his 2 young children.

Her neighbors spot her, due to the fact that she winds up walking the full of Columbia, to perceive the locals archer it.

"There are radical who acceptable their ticker connected her walks," says Daniel Rickenmann, the politician of Columbia. "There's a java store successful Five Points that she walks by and idiosyncratic volition go, 'It indispensable beryllium 8:30. There goes Dawn.'"

She is there, not conscionable successful this place, but someway of it too, successful ways that look intentional and vital. It matters to the radical determination that she sees them connected the riverwalk, and that they spot her successful Five Points. These radical spot her and are seen, and truthful she matters. When Dickey and his woman were navigating the blows of a household calamity respective years ago, Staley would question him out. "She would stock her faith, and I would stock mine, and I would support her updated astir it," Dickey says. "You hide you're talking to Dawn Staley, due to the fact that I'm conscionable talking to a neighbour who's acrophobic and praying for me."

That it's happening here, successful this peculiar place, matters too.

Just crossed the Congaree, a fewer blocks from Colonial Life Arena down Lincoln Street, there's a tiny creation assemblage called SoulHAUS. The owner, Preach Jacobs, likes to accidental his store is hyperlocal -- his abstraction mostly showcases Black artists from Columbia, oregon South Carolina, oregon astatine the precise least, the South. Jacobs, a instrumentalist and DJ successful the area, is hyperlocal, himself. He grew up successful Northeast Columbia; his parent and begetter came from the outskirts of the city; his grandma attended Benedict College, 1 of the city's HBCUs successful the bosom of downtown.

"Columbia is ..." helium starts, past stops. It's complicated, this spot and his narration to it. "The champion mode I tin accidental it: I utilized to enactment astatine the Columbia Museum of Art, which is connected Main Street, and determination were times wherever I'm going to enactment connected programming that's amplifying Black artists, but I crook astir and a Confederate emblem is up determination astatine the Statehouse, right? There was ever this underlying comment: 'You don't beryllium here.'

"And it made you privation to get the f--- out."

The emblem came down successful 2015, with then-Gov. Nikki Haley's blessing and, ultimately, her signature connected a measure passed by its long-resistant legislature. But it was ne'er arsenic elemental arsenic excising it from Statehouse grounds. It came down, but lone successful the aftermath of Dylann Roof, a Columbia native, sidesplitting 9 Black churchgoers astatine a book survey crossed the authorities successful Charleston. It came down but has been raised again successful the years since, by protestors taking to the Statehouse to decry its removal. It came down, but Jacobs has inactive recovered himself deejaying structure parties connected Confederate Avenue.

The past clip Jacobs spoke to his grandma earlier she died, she told him astir her great-grandmother, a erstwhile enslaved woman, who lived with her for a little time. He reeled, doing the math, piecing unneurotic that helium could straight cognize and emotion a idiosyncratic who had straight known and loved a erstwhile enslaved person. The past of this place, helium found, has a mode of colliding with its present.

"So erstwhile you determine to enactment here," helium says, "I instrumentality it arsenic a revolutionary act."

Staley -- for Jacobs, for a batch of the radical astir present -- did thing much than enactment successful this place.

She chose to return.

She chose to reclaim it.

JUST 25 MILES southbound of Columbia sits Woodford, South Carolina. This is the municipality wherever Staley's mother, Estelle, grew up. She lived determination until she was 13, until the time Estelle's parent sent her connected an errand to the butcher -- a achromatic butcher, who refused to connection her caller meat. She argued with the store proprietor -- insisting she wouldn't permission with rotten nutrient -- until helium ran her retired of the store and she returned home. Her parent packed Estelle's bags and sent her to unrecorded with household up northbound past and there. She was acrophobic Estelle mightiness beryllium lynched.

Estelle Staley had to permission South Carolina to live. Her girl has resolved to unrecorded present to permission it transformed.

"I deliberation astir what she made imaginable for me," Staley wrote successful an essay, "And possibly what I'm expected to marque imaginable for others. She near South Carolina due to the fact that of the radical divide. I came backmost with a anticipation to span it."

Staley has ne'er been thing but transparent astir her intentions successful Columbia. She came to triumph championships, and she has. She besides came to triumph hearts and minds. "For her to take Columbia means a lot, right?" Jacobs says. "There's thing astir knowing that a spot belongs to you and it tin beryllium tragic that you had to get distant from it. I deliberation that if she was idiosyncratic who conscionable had roots up north, she wouldn't recognize the value of the enactment she's doing successful South Carolina."

Staley advocates for much Black coaches, sends them pieces of the title nets she cuts down, truthful they cognize her successes are theirs. "I privation my portion of nett to beryllium an inspiration for idiosyncratic other to triumph the championship," she said aft she captured her first.

Then she'll lobby softly connected their behalf, the mode she did erstwhile she called the diversion manager astatine adjacent Allen University to run for her erstwhile player, Olivia Gaines, to beryllium named the caller women's hoops caput coach. "She ever tells maine this," Gaines says. "'You don't halt until you get what you're worth."

She speaks retired against constabulary brutality, publically criticizing Haley, who had seemed to equate WNBA players with "a mob" for their enactment of Black Lives Matter. Then she logs onto a backstage Zoom league with Leon Lott, the sheriff of Richland County who has go her friend, to springiness her players the accidental to talk straight with police, to inquire questions, to understand.

Staley is large astir what matters to her and softly relentless successful pursuit of it. That's her prize successful her agelong ascent to the apical of women's hoops -- the level she is fixed to talk and beryllium heard. It is besides her burden. It's a lonely road.

"They're watching me," she has said of her players. "I can't inquire them to basal up for themselves if I'm sitting down. Nor tin I inquire them to usage their dependable to impact alteration if I'm lone consenting to whisper. So erstwhile idiosyncratic tells maine to unopen up and coach, I simply say, 'No.' I person a occupation to do. I'm being watched."

Marcus Lattimore knows the peaks and valleys of that road, due to the fact that helium besides walked it alone. He's present to accidental that the winning makes Staley's ngo possible, but it doesn't marque it easy.

If Staley is this state's adopted hero, Lattimore was its homegrown one. He electrified South Carolina arsenic 1 of the country's champion precocious schoolhouse moving backs up the roadworthy successful Duncan successful the aboriginal 2000s, past did thing a batch of section stars didn't bash overmuch of astatine the time, particularly the brightest ones. He stayed home. He was deified for his loyalty, often literally; helium was called a deity to his look much than erstwhile by besotted South Carolinians. But the moments earlier each that fawning sat similar a value connected his chest.

"If they don't cognize who you are and you locomotion successful Black skin? Being an mean Black idiosyncratic successful South Carolina, it's precise antithetic than being well-known successful South Carolina," Lattimore says.

He would ticker the lights crook connected successful someone's eyes erstwhile it dawned connected them who helium was and who helium had been connected a shot field. "Now I'm different," he'd think. "Now I'm a wholly antithetic quality being."

There was a shift, thing atmospheric, and it changed him. Lattimore started to bash things specified arsenic connect his sanction -- this sanction that meant truthful overmuch to truthful galore radical -- to petitions to region Strom Thurmond's sanction from the field fittingness center.

The gathering is regal. Its rotunda is conscionable arsenic stately arsenic the 1 connected the existent Statehouse down the street; the exterior is bleached and practically sun-kissed. And it bears the sanction of South Carolina's long-serving, segregationist senator, who is possibly astir celebrated for his 24-hour filibuster successful an effort to artifact the transition of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. The fittingness halfway is conscionable a 10-minute locomotion from Colonial Life Arena, wherever 1 of the country's astir salient Black coaches walks the sideline.

Lattimore couldn't quadrate however the assemblage could implore young, Black athletes to motion connected to South Carolina, past inquire them to locomotion done the doors of a Strom Thurmond fittingness center. Staley couldn't either, and successful the summertime of 2020, she took to the beforehand of the gathering with different Gamecocks athletes to telephone for change.

"It's beauteous simple," she said then. "I don't cognize however you get immoderate much elemental than if thing oregon idiosyncratic promotes radical divides, it shouldn't beryllium a portion of our assemblage and it shouldn't beryllium portion of our existence."

Five years later, plaques inactive carnivore Thurmond's sanction connected the center; signposts invited visitors to "the Strom."

Lattimore knows -- with his sanction present bound to issues similar the petition -- that helium has surrendered immoderate fans arsenic helium recovered his voice. He's definite Staley has too. But since that day successful August 2020 erstwhile she pushed for the building's renaming, she has also, successful chronological order:

* Kneeled during the pregame playing of the nationalist anthem. While she usually remained standing, she took a genu alongside 1 of her players, hoping to shield that subordinate from nationalist outrage. "They're going to teardrop her ass up," Staley said she thought astatine the time.

* Publicly rebuked erstwhile NCAA president Mark Emmert for the inequities that went nationalist -- and viral -- successful the tournament's provisions for men and women athletes. "There is nary reply that the NCAA enforcement enactment led by Mark Emmert tin springiness to explicate the disparities," she wrote successful a missive and posted to societal media. "The existent contented is not the weights oregon the 'swag' bags; it's that they did not deliberation oregon bash not deliberation that the women's players 'deserve' the aforesaid amenities of the men."

* Won the 2022 nationalist championship, making past arsenic the archetypal Black caput manager successful Division I men's oregon women's hoops to triumph aggregate titles. "I felt a large woody of unit to triumph due to the fact that I'm a Black coach," Staley said astatine the time. "Because if we don't win, past you bring successful ... conscionable scrutiny. Like, 'You can't coach, you had capable to get it done but yet you failed.'"

* Canceled a bid with BYU aft a Duke subordinate alleged a instrumentality successful the stands shouted a radical slur astatine her during a volleyball match. BYU said it recovered nary evidence, but Staley stood by her decision. "After my idiosyncratic research," she said successful a statement, "I made a determination for the well-being of my team."

* Voiced enactment for transgender athletes to play connected teams successful accordance with their sex identity. "I'm of the sentiment that if you're a pistillate you should play," she said during past year's tournament. "If you see yourself a pistillate and you privation to play sports, oregon vice versa, you should beryllium capable to play."

* Won the 2024 nationalist championship.

* Endorsed Kamala Harris for president successful a authorities that would spell connected to ballot for Donald Trump by an 18-point margin.

* Became the highest-paid women's hoops manager successful NCAA history. "I look guardant to continuing to beryllium an illustration of however an concern successful women's hoops is 1 that volition wage disconnected for everyone," she said successful a connection aft quality of her declaration broke.

"She conscionable gets enactment into those categories of revered women successful past -- partially due to the fact that of what she's done connected the hoops court, but much due to the fact that of what she stands for," Lattimore says. "I can't adjacent quantify it. If there's a database of apical 5 astir important South Carolinians ever, she's No. 1 successful my book."

A fewer years ago, a radical called Statues for Equality reached retired to Rickenmann. They wanted to speech to the politician of Columbia astir erecting a statue successful municipality of a pistillate of import. The state had truthful fewer specified monuments -- Ruth Bader Ginsburg; Eleanor Roosevelt; Jane Goodall -- but they wanted much and did helium person immoderate ideas?

Dawn, helium thought to himself. It's Dawn. It's gotta beryllium Dawn.

The statue won't unrecorded astatine the arena. Rickenmann thought it ought to beryllium downtown due to the fact that Staley has ne'er mattered lone to basketball. He figures it's lone close that the statue -- similar Staley -- bid attraction successful a assemblage space. "I'm excited that we person a manager who has truly embraced our assemblage and astatine the aforesaid clip has truly empowered her athletes to basal up gangly each day," helium said successful 2023. Though the metropolis remains tight-lipped astir its last destination, 1 spot reportedly nether information is astatine the country of Gervais and Main Streets, close crossed from the Statehouse. Jacobs utilized to locomotion this intersection downtown and get a message: You don't belong. He mightiness locomotion it soon to find a caller one. Yes, you do.

Still, erstwhile the statue is unveiled sometime aft this season, it mightiness look the gathering wherever the Confederate emblem flew a decennary ago, and wherever a statue of Strom Thurmond inactive stands astir the back. There the 2 could unrecorded 1 day, facing off: the statue of a Black pistillate and manager who has won successful and won implicit Columbia, and the statue of a antheral who would not person welcomed her there.

"How tin 2 truths beryllium astatine once?" Lattimore says. "But they can. They can. It's conflicting, but besides astatine the aforesaid time, it's a mode retired of the past. Not erase it, but determination connected from it."

FOR A WOMAN soon to beryllium formed successful bronze, Staley does not enactment still.

She spends precious fewer minutes really sitting successful her spot successful the play finale against Kentucky, jumping up from her chair, pacing alongside the scorer's table, thrashing a rolled-up insubstantial -- her changeless companion connected gamedays -- successful the air, stomping her close ft successful staccato bursts, arsenic if she can't rather fathom however Raven Johnson could perchance miss a pull-up jumper.

Across the court, successful level seats facing the bench, sits Sheriff Lott, who has play tickets. "Maybe radical would not expect a Black pistillate manager and a achromatic Southern sheriff to beryllium friends," helium says, but determination helium sits, the mode helium sits successful the car with her connected the ride-alongs she's ever requesting during the offseason, showing up for this idiosyncratic who doesn't look similar him oregon adjacent deliberation similar him each the time, but understands him. "We're some astatine that level successful our professions wherever you don't person a full batch of peers," helium says. "I'm the sheriff. She's the caput hoops coach."

On the different broadside of the basket, a smattering of players' families capable successful Section 103, among them, LaShauna Hall, South Carolina defender Bree Hall's mother. She flew down from Ohio, and, if she's being honest, she wasn't each that thrilled astatine archetypal astatine the imaginable of her girl choosing a schoolhouse truthful acold from home. But Staley recruited LaShauna arsenic overmuch arsenic she did Bree, and LaShauna was struck by her honesty. She did not effort to merchantability them dreams, lone her vision: that she'd emotion for Bree to articulation her successful Columbia, but the squad was replete with bully players, truthful if idiosyncratic accolades were their thing, possibly their spot was elsewhere.

Bree announced her committedness to South Carolina the aforesaid time George Floyd was murdered successful Minneapolis. While the state reeled successful the days and weeks and months after, LaShauna says that arsenic Bree was figuring retired however to feel, she did cognize this much: She wanted to beryllium adjacent to Staley. "There were times erstwhile Bree felt similar she had been slighted due to the fact that of the colour of her skin," LaShauna says. "And truthful she felt like, 'I'm gonna spell with this woman. And this pistillate is going to assistance maine go a pistillate but besides get what I deserve.'"

Back successful Philadelphia, Darrell Gates is watching. He was glued to a tv surface playing a VHS item of Dawn Staley from 40 years agone and he's captivated by her still. Gates plays successful an over-50 league, but connected weekends arsenic the day extremity gets closer, he's steadfast: "I'm outta here," helium tells his teammates. "I request to spell spot her squad play."

In Columbia, erstwhile Leon Lott and LaShauna Hall permission the arena, they walk by the agelong of Lincoln Street betwixt College and Blossom named Dawn Staley Way. And hundreds of miles north, erstwhile Jimmy Richardson heads to enactment astatine the halfway successful North Philly, if Darrell Gates swings by his aged location tribunal there, they'll marque their mode betwixt 23rd and 25th connected Diamond Street, a agelong called Dawn Staley Lane.

Here she is and determination she is. This Philadelphian. This South Carolinian. This hoops subordinate and manager and person.

This weekend, Staley volition beryllium successful Tampa, Florida, pursuing different title, and nary substance what happens next, and nary substance wherever it happens, the places she has been and the radical inactive determination volition beryllium with her.

"If she wins," Richardson says, "we win."