South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley is one of the few active SEC coaches left who went head-to-head in the conference with legendary Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt.
Staley, as always, had profound comments about Summitt at a press conference Jan. 9 before the Gamecocks play Georgia in their “We Back Pat” game on Jan. 11 (2 p.m. ET, SEC Network). The SEC will put on “We Back Pat Week” for the 14th season, an initiative focused on bringing awareness and recognition to the Pat Summitt Foundation and its fight against Alzheimer’s.
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“Champion coach, champion individual for women’s basketball,” Staley said. “Always has looked out for women’s basketball, has set the example of how we should by being inclusive. Yes, she had dynasty teams during tenure as a Tennessee coach, but it never felt like it was just about Tennessee. It always felt like it was about all of us. And she made us believe there’s a little bit of Tennessee in all of us, meaning a little bit of dominance, a little bit of success.”
The Lady Vols will host Arkansas for their “We Back Pat” game at Food City Center on Jan. 11 (2 p.m. ET, SEC Network+).
Staley took over the South Carolina program in 2008 and has since led the Gamecocks to three national championships and seven trips to the Final Four. She has always paid homage to Summitt, who led Tennessee to eight national championships, over the years. Staley even made time during the season to make a trip to Knoxville to be on the panel for the Pat Summitt live reunion show on Dec. 11.
Staley called Summitt an individual who actually shared her success for the greater good of the game.
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“There’s never been another one,” Staley said. “There won’t probably be (another) one person, because we’re in the world where we just want us to be successful and nobody else to be successful. Coach Summitt was was never like that, even to her detriment, at times – it was for the greater good of the sport. She’ll take the hit because she knows she’s coming back stronger. So she set the example for how we need to lead our sport to higher heights.”
Cora Hall is the University of Tennessee women’s athletics reporter for Knox News. Email: cora.hall@knoxnews.com; X: @corahalll; Bluesky: @corahall.bsky.social. Support strong local journalism and unlock premium perks: subscribe.knoxnews.com/offers
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Dawn Staley on Pat Summitt’s legacy going into ‘We Back Pat Week’
