Dawn Staley

“When men fail, they get a second chance - as women, and especially as Black women, we have to fight for every chance.”

“For me, you know, the projects was a way of life. Like, I didn't see myself as poor. Like, my family didn't see ourselves as poor. I mean, we saw themselves as working-class people who worked hard, you know? Like, I grew up in the projects, but the lawns in my block were - you know, were maintained. They were - I mean, it was incredibly clean.”

“As a point guard, you know, the point guard is the position on the floor that really runs it. You're the conductor. You're the coach out there on the floor. You're the extension of the coach that's on the sideline.”

“Covering women's college basketball means covering women's college basketball: the ups, the downs, the surprises, the disappointments, the old rivalries, the new rivalries, the star players, the role players - all of it.”

“There's a world going on outside of us that we play a part in - whether or not people want us to shut up and dribble.”

“I hope every school or university treats women's sports like South Carolina.”

“Sometimes you just need a little push every now and then to keep going, even when the odds are stacked against you.”

“When I was growing up in the projects in Philadelphia in the 1970s and 80s, Cadillac was the car to have. But I always wanted a Mercedes.”

“I always thank God for the wins and losses.”

“When I got a letter from a college in eighth grade saying something about basketball - I think it might have even just been a camp brochure - it clicked something in my mind that basketball was the sport I should focus on, because it could be the most opportunity for me to get a college scholarship.”

“I'm better at accomplishing things on my own instead of telling others how to do it. But I'm getting better.”

“We need a unifier in the position of the most powerful person in the world.”

“As a coach, you always hope for certain things in a team.”

“You have to let young people be who they are. You have to guide them and navigate them through this world.”

“I grew up in the projects in North Philly. And when you grow up in the projects in North Philly, no one thinks you're going to amount to anything. Like, seriously.”

“I grew up in a predominantly black neighborhood. My high school and my junior high school were both predominantly black.”

“I'm an example for living for what you love.”

“Caitlin Clark is a superstar.”

“For me, I've always taken the back seat to the superstars - to the Lisa Leslies, to the Yolanda Griffiths, all of them. I've always taken the back seat to that because I'm not into that.”

“I owe basketball. I'm forever indebted to it. It engulfed my life for the positive. The game has gotten more of my time than my friends and my family. I feel like on a smaller or larger scale, it can impact my players' lives in some kind of way.”