

In 2015, Carolyn Peck gave Dawn Staley a piece of the championship net she cut down after becoming the first Black women’s basketball coach in Division I to win an NCAA title in 1999 with Purdue.


Staley carried it until she won her championship in 2017 with South Carolina. After winning her title, Staley said she’d continue the tradition. But sharing it with just one coach wouldn’t be enough.

“I may just have to cut that up and spread it out amongst all the Black head coaches, so we all have something tangible to hold onto,” Staley said.
A COMMON THREAD
In November 2021, Dawn Staley sent pieces of her 2017 NCAA championship net to Black female head coaches around the country, creating a tangible connection for a steadily growing group of women in the sport. In Division I women’s college basketball, where 21% of its head coaches identified as Black women during the 2020-21 season according to the NCAA, Staley understood the bond they shared. We spoke to several dozen of the more than 70 coaches who received a net, all of whom shared their perspectives on what it means to be a Black female head coach.
Notre Dame

Stony Brook

George Mason

Wisconsin

Townson

Buffalo


Missouri State

Long Island University

Arizona

Ole Miss

Denver

Jackson State



Black Women Coaches in the NCAAW in the past 5 years
There is a consensus among current Black female head coaches that equitable representation in women’s college basketball is not where it needs to be, but it is trending in the right direction. The 2020-21 season represented the highest increase of Black female head coaches during the last 10 years, rising by 4% from 2020.
“I didn’t do it for me,” Staley said of sharing the net. “It was for no other reason besides what Carolyn did for me. I wanted somebody else to feel that. The fact that we had success after that means it’s real. Carolyn didn’t do it for any reason besides wanting success, so it all came out of wanting somebody else to succeed.”
Written by Sean Hurd. Edited by Ed Guzman. Project Managed by Ashley Melfi.
Produced by ESPN Creative Studio: Michelle Bashaw, Heather Donahue, Jarret Gabel, Lori Higginbotham, Sean Hintz, Kristine LaManna, Thomas Maloney, Sarah Pezzullo.
Illustrations by Gluekit.
This list of Black female head coaches who received a net from Dawn Staley was provided by University of South Carolina athletics