Latest news with #PatSummitt
Fox News
7 days ago
- Lifestyle
- Fox News
Dawn Staley reveals she rejected Alabama coaching offer before landing job with South Carolina
Dawn Staley left Temple University in her native Philadelphia after the 2007-08 season and was named head coach of the South Carolina women's basketball team. In more than a decade and a half since, Staley has taken the Gamecocks program to unprecedented heights, leading South Carolina to three national titles during her tenure. In her new book, "Uncommon Favor," Staley revealed another SEC school expressed interest in her in 2005. "Alabama came after me first in 2005," Staley wrote. She was coaching at Temple at the time she was approached by Alabama. The Owls finished the 2004-05 season with a 28–4 record and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. While Staley landed in the same conference as the Crimson Tide, she believed South Carolina was the best fit for her family and career. "I visited the campus. I liked the athletic director. But I couldn't see myself living in Alabama," she noted. While Staley didn't care for the idea of moving to Alabama, she said the move to South Carolina meant she would still be joining a league in which several coaches had built legendary careers. "I was drawn to the fact that USC was part of the SEC and its storied legacy in women's basketball," Staley wrote. "Pat Summitt was in this league, Andy Landers, Melanie Balcomb, all these legendary coaches. I was looking to refine my skills, rise to compete with the best. The cherry on top was that my parents were originally from South Carolina." Staley was also eager for a reunion with her mother, Estelle, and her siblings. By all accounts, Staley has become a beloved figure in Columbia, South Carolina's capital city and the home of the Gamecocks. The city recently unveiled an on-campus statue in honor of Staley. Staley reflected on a state embracing her given her complicated history with her family. Estelle left South Carolina decades ago due to racism and discrimination. Staley described the homecoming as a "full-circle moment." "Time is a funny thing, isn't it? That I find myself thriving in the very state that drove my mother into exile is an irony I never forget," Staley wrote. "That she was able to return to her home, her place of belonging, when I came to work at South Carolina was a full-circle moment made possible by social progress, the civil rights movement, myriad changes seismic and small, but also, in large part, by faith." Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
CBS News
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
WNBA icon Candace Parker on overcoming challenges, career highlights and her journey beyond the court
WNBA champion Candace Parker is one of the league's most celebrated players, winning championships with three different teams over her 16-year career. Her success on and off the court goes back to her determined nature during her childhood. "I fell in love with the game as a result of my family, honestly. Most Saturdays, it was spent going to the basketball courts," Parker said. Although 10 years younger than her siblings, Parker was a fierce competitor. "Being the little sister was really hard because I was looking up to these two amazing role models and I worried if I would be able to do what they did," she said. But the two-time Olympic Gold medalist had her first dunk, which would eventually became her signature, at the young age of 14. "I will never forget it," Parker said about her first-ever dunk. "I don't even think my feet really landed on the ground and I was already pulling out my flip phone, you know, the flip cell phone, and dialing my brother and telling him at the next Thanksgiving, when we're all around the table, I'm gonna say, 'Whoever dunked at 14, you know, can step forward' and my brothers had to take a huge step back." Before her professional career, Parker dominated in college, winning two national titles at the University of Tennessee for legendary coach Pat Summitt, who also inspired her off the court. "You're gonna live longer than the ball is bouncing, God willing, and so there's a whole lot of life after basketball. So you kinda have to learn how to be a good human and, I can't think of a better person than coach Summitt that modeled that," she said. Challenges during WNBA career Even as the No. 1 pick in the 2008 WNBA draft, the low salaries of WNBA players were a huge hurdle. When Parker became pregnant, paid maternity leave did not exist in the league. "I'm not proud of the fact that when I was pregnant, the most joyous moment of my entire life, I've always wanted to be a mom, was met with my hesitation of how am I gonna tell my organization that I'm pregnant?" Her daughter, Lailaa, was born after her rookie year. To make ends meet, Parker played overseas on teams in Russia, China and Turkey during the offseason, raising Lailaa on the road with her mom's help. "Like it's the happiest moments of my life, but it was met with like, wow, this is — this is the reality of it," she said. Lailaa is now 16. Parker and her wife Anya, both retired basketball players, have two sons, Hartt and Airr. New book and life beyond basketball Parker's new book, "The Can-Do Mindset: How to Cultivate Resilience, Follow Your Heart, and Fight for Your Passions," focuses on her failures and successes in basketball and beyond. She shares her struggles as a female athlete, writing, "Society told us to be strong, but not too muscular, be competitive, but don't be emotional, be independent, but still subservient, and dream, but within the confines of a box society constantly puts you in." "So I think it's just the double standard of the way society views women, and especially views women within sports," she told CBS News. The basketball legend is now a sports commentator. Amongst her trophies and special memorabilia, there's one treasure that stands out from the rest. "First WNBA Championship, I think is like a picture's worth a million words and my daughter is telling me that we did it," she said.
USA Today
28-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Ranking the uniforms in the Women's College World series
Ranking the uniforms in the Women's College World series The Women's College World Series gets underway on Thursday in Oklahoma City, with eight teams hoping to put their best foot forward in hopes of securing a national championship. The Oklahoma Sooners are hoping to become the first team to win five straight national titles but will face significant challenges from Texas, Florida, Texas Tech, Tennessee, Oregon, UCLA, and Ole Miss. It's one of the best events in college sports, as over the next week and a half, softball will take center stage. As the teams take the field, so will some iconic uniforms. From classics to alternates, there will be some fantastic fits on display in Oklahoma City. Who has the best? 8. Florida Gators When you think of the Florida Gators, this is what you picture. It's a uniform that looks like something you'd expect out of a team from Florida. It's a solid look but not quite as nice as some of the others in the Women's College World Series. 7. Oregon Ducks The Oregon football team has some of the best looks in college sports. This is the softball team's best uniform. It looks like a storm's brewing and with the way the Ducks have played this season, it's fitting. The only knock is that the all-green and all-yellow looks don't come together quite like some of the other solids in Oklahoma City. 6. Ole Miss Rebels Powder Blue There's a lot of blue on the list, but the Ole Miss Powder Blue is about as good as it gets. 5. UCLA Blue and Gold UCLA is one of the blue bloods of the sport and their UCLA Blue evokes memories of a long history of success in college softball. They get the blue bump over Ole Miss simply out of respect for what UCLA Blue and Gold have meant to the sport. 4. Texas Longhorns' Icy White The all-whites are a great look, and not only because it minimizes the amount of burnt orange one has to see, but it's reminiscent of their best football look as well. 3. Texas Tech's All Black Few athletic programs wear black as well as Texas Tech. With red script and accents, it's an ominous look, especially when the best pitcher in the game, NiJaree Canady, is standing in the circle. 2. Oklahoma Sooners All-Crimson The Oklahoma Sooners have a lot of really good looks, but none as clean as their all-crimson fit. It's strong and powerful, much like this team. 1. Tennessee Volunteers 'Summitt Blue' When you think of Tennessee, you may not think of the blue they wore to clinch their super regional over Nebraska, but their "Summitt Blue," named after the Lady Vols legendary women's basketball coach Pat Summitt, is fantastic. The white accents, along with the orange lettering, are a great look. Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on X @john9williams.
Associated Press
06-04-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Women's NCAA Championship Winningest Coaches
▶ Follow AP's full coverage of March Madness. ▶ Get the AP Top 25 women's college basketball poll delivered straight to your inbox with AP Top 25 Poll Alerts. Sign up here. Geno Auriemma, Connecticut, 12 Pat Summitt, Tennessee, 8 Kim Mulkey, Baylor/LSU, 4 Dawn Staley, South Carolina, 3 Tara VanDerveer, Stanford, 3 Muffet McGraw, Notre Dame, 2 Linda Sharp, Southern Cal, 2 Leon Barmore, Louisiana Tech, 1 Gary Blair, Texas A&M, 1 Jody Conradt, Texas, 1 Brenda Frese, Maryland, 1 Sylvia Hatchell, North Carolina, 1 Sonja Hogg, Louisiana Tech, 1 Carolyn Peck, Purdue, 1 Marsha Sharp, Texas Tech, 1 Marianne Stanley, Old Dominion, 1
USA Today
22-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Teams with back-to-back NCAA women's basketball titles: 3 programs dominate March Madness
Teams with back-to-back NCAA women's basketball titles: 3 programs dominate March Madness Show Caption Hide Caption Women's basketball players you must watch in March Madness Mackenzie Salmon and Meghan Hall give a few players to keep your eye on in the women's March Madness tournament that are not named Paige Bueckers. Sports Seriously South Carolina has a chance to join an elite company in the 2025 NCAA women's tournament. The Gamecocks earned the top seed in the 2025 women's March Madness bracket after finishing the 2024-25 season with a 30-3 record and an SEC tournament win over Texas. If South Carolina repeats as national champions, the Gamecocks will become the fourth program to win back-to-back titles in the women's tournament since 1982. Here are the repeat winners. UConn (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016) Breanna Stewart and the Huskies did the improbable with four consecutive titles, which hasn't been replicated since. UConn (2009, 2010) The Huskies were unstoppable with an undefeated record in each title season and a starring cast of Maya Moore, Tina Charles and Tiffany Hayes. Tennessee (2007, 2008) Legendary coach Pat Summitt's final two of her eight titles came from Candace Parker-led teams. Parker went No. 1 overall in the 2008 WNBA Draft. UConn (2002, 2003, 2004) The Huskies had an impressive run with four championships in five years and punctuated the run with three consecutive titles. The eventual No. 1 WNBA Draft pick Diana Taurasi was on all three teams. Tennessee (1996, 1997, 1998) After losing the national championship to UConn in 1995, Pat Summitt's teams won three consecutive titles. The Lady Vols got revenge and beat the Huskies in the Final Four in 1996 and the Midwest Regional Final in 1997. USC (1983, 1984) Linda Sharp's teams had greats Cheryl Miller and Cynthia Cooper on the roster as the Trojans became the first team to repeat as champions in the new tournament format.
