Dawn Staley to the NBA? Three reasons why that’s unlikely to happen right now

Get ready to hear these kinds of rumors often.

Dawn Staley’s star grows brighter by the day, especially as the sport of college basketball experiences a moment of flux, with legends like Roy Williams and Mike Krzyzewski announcing their retirement. A few weeks ago, Staley was among the names floated around for the North Carolina men’s basketball opening. And now again this week, her name is among a list of top candidates for an NBA head coach opening with the Portland Trail Blazers.

The South Carolina women’s basketball coach is a hot commodity, and rightfully so. She’s molded the Gamecocks into a perennial national title contender over the past decade. All the while, she’s emerged as one of the sport’s preeminent voices, using her platform to speak out on social justice issues and the rights of women and minorities.

With momentum building for woman head coaches to break through in the NBA and in men’s college hoops, Staley’s name is bound to come up often.

But that doesn’t mean she will leave — yet. She has options. Here’s why she’s likely to stay in Columbia.

Gamecocks are only getting started

There’s a sense of unfinished business around the program after the team fell just short in a heartbreaking Final Four loss to Stanford in April.

Not only do the Gamecocks project to return their entire roster, but Staley will also welcome the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class to campus. Even scarier: the Gamecocks landed top transfer Kamilla Cardoso from Syracuse, a 6-foot-7 center.

The Gamecocks have been on an incredible run since making it back into the NCAA tournament in 2012, winning the national title in 2017 and appearing in two other Final Fours. Staley has built the program brick by brick since taking over in 2008-09, and her Gamecocks don’t show any signs of slowing down. She’s said herself that the expectation is to contend for a national title every year, and South Carolina is in prime position to do just that.

Is Staley actually interested in coaching men?

When asked about coaching men in the NBA or otherwise in April, Staley said she had no interest in making that shift.

“No ounce of me really wants to coach outside of college,” Staley said. “I don’t know why my level of interest has never been to coach in the WNBA, NBA or on the men’s (college) side. I don’t know why my competitiveness won’t allow me to go there.”

In a New York Times piece published this week, Staley told writer Kurt Streeter that “it would be huge” for a woman to lead an NBA team but said she wasn’t campaigning for an NBA head coaching role. That certainly doesn’t mean she lacks confidence in her ability to do the job.

“I come with a lot of credentials,” she said. “I surely have the confidence. I surely can stand in front of men and lead them. First-team All-Stars. MVPs. I’m OK with that.”

While she could do the job, that doesn’t mean she wants to do it — or wants to do it now. USC confirmed, through a statement, that the Portland Trail Blazers contacted the athletic department seeking to speak with Staley. It is not yet known if Staley has interviewed or will interview for the position.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Monday that another trailblazing woman, San Antonio Spurs assistant Becky Hammon, was interviewing for the position in Portland along with the Nets’ Mike D’Antoni and the Clippers’ Chauncey Billups.

‘There’s too much work to be done in our game’

Elevating women into positions of power in men’s leagues is an important, necessary and inevitable step. But equally important is elevating women’s leagues themselves — and the athletes and coaches who star in them.

When Staley talked about her lack of interest in coaching the NBA in April, she cited her desire to continue building women’s hoops.

“Maybe it’s because there’s too much work to be done in our game,” Staley said. “There’s a lot of work that needs to be done in women’s basketball.”

Clearly, she has already lifted the sport at South Carolina, enlivening Colonial Life Arena and turning the Gamecocks into appointment television. But disparities remain between men’s and women’s sports, and Staley has been a vocal advocate in trying to close that gap. Most recently, she spoke out against the unequal amenities for men’s and women’s teams during March Madness.

“You add insult to injury, and you have guys out there just saying some disgusting things about, ‘We’re not making money, we’re the JV.’ That ain’t cool. That ain’t cool, because that’s what happens in boardrooms. .... There’s a miscommunication at the highest level of the NCAA,” Staley said. “Either it’s miscommunication, no communication or just not downright caring, if people know what’s happening on our side of things, and that must stop.

“That must stop, because we’re under the umbrella of March Madness. If the NCAA owns March Madness and all of its luxury, then it should feel luxurious to every student-athlete, man or woman.”