“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.”

American basketball coach and former player

Dawn Staley is an American basketball coach and former player, best known as the head coach of the South Carolina Gamecocks women’s basketball team. As a point guard, she played college basketball for the Virginia Cavaliers and later spent eight seasons in the Women’s National Basketball Association, mainly with the Charlotte Sting. She also represented the United States women’s national basketball team, winning three Olympic gold medals as a player from 1996 to 2004. In 2021, she coached the U.S. team to another Olympic gold medal. Staley is the only person to win the Naismith Award both as a player and as a coach.