SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TIPOFF MEDIA DAYS

October 13, 2026

Dawn Staley

South Carolina Gamecocks

Women's Media Day Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Coach Dawn Staley is beginning her 19th year as the head coach at the University of South Carolina. Please welcome to the dais Dawn Staley.

We'll go straight to questions.

Q. Why did you bring these three players today?

DAWN STALEY: I mean, Joyce is a two-time All-American. Chloe is returning from injury. And quite honestly, didn't think Tessa wanted to come, so I asked Jordan. I think Jordan is someone that is new to our program that is exemplary of how we play and how we approach things. I thought she would be a great representative of our program.

Q. South Carolina led the nation in the average attendance last season. How much does having that fan base affect the game, and what does that mean to you guys?

DAWN STALEY: I mean, well before we were having the type of success that we've had, that was one of the things that we wanted to create because we looked at teams that won national championships, and they created a home court advantage.

If we ever thought we were going to win a national championship, it had to start at home. I couldn't imagine, nor did I have the vision, to see us and the type of attendance records that we have and banners year in and year out that we have.

I mean, I think the city of Columbia, the supporters of our fams have really -- I mean, every year. I think we sold out our season tickets again this past season and again this upcoming season. So I think it goes hand in hand. If you are really trying to win national championships, you have to create that environment at home.

Q. We talked with Coach Yo earlier, and you guys are the two longer-tenured coaches in the conference. What's it like matching up with her? I know she mentioned that you guys are friends as well.

DAWN STALEY: I think she's growing as a coach. I think when you are experiencing being in the SEC for as long as we have, it sharpens you, right? It provides a way for you to not only just compete in the SEC for conference championships, but it allows you to win a national championship.

I don't think if we were in any other conference that we would have won as many as we've won. I think this conference prepares you for that. I think Coach Yo has done a tremendous job with just taking the necessary steps to making a way to winning a national championship.

Q. Obviously what y'all have built now speaks for itself, but if you could go back and give advice to yourself in those first few years where the wins weren't how they are now, what would that advice be?

DAWN STALEY: I'm going to tell you how I felt. Professional suicide. How about that?

I mean, when Eric Hyman hired me, I mean, he would always say it's going to take at least three years, three years. Three years was the time that he used. I'm, like, three years? Who's got time to lose for three years?

I mean, it's patience. You have to have a mindset of knowing things take time, and I would just say, you know, whatever you're going through, whatever I was going through in that moment is what I needed to know. Sometimes people want to get ahead of what it takes to have sustained success by having instant success, and sometimes that just gives you a false sense of who -- how good you are, and I do look back on it.

Everything in my career that I needed to know, whether that's losing, whether that's winning, whether that was our program take a step back, is really what I needed to as a coach to grow. I mean, it's patience. It's pivoting.

It's finding the right coaches and combination of coaches to make sure you are in sync with each other because it's hard being a coach, and it's hard being a dream merchant for young people, because it comes with so many other responsibilities that the basketball is the least of your worries.

That is actually your happy -- your happy time of the day is dealing with parents, trainers, whoever else is in our place, circle of people who support them.

I mean, you have to be ready to take on all of those people and know that all of us just want the principal, I call it, the athlete, the principal. We all want the principal to win. We all have different ways of doing it, but we all need to be on the same page.

Q. Obviously you didn't have Chloe last year. I'm just curious to know what some of the things you've seen change in her in terms of when she came back to practice, but then also just the growth in her as player?

DAWN STALEY: I mean, Chloe has been very consistent with working hard. Like, very. You don't really have to worry about her getting in what she needs to get in. Actually she's almost obsessive with it to where you just have to say, hey, take a day off. Like, really, it's not -- take a day off. It's helpful.

Just her maturation off the floor. I mean, she is someone that if you -- if I had a thing about where she came in to where she is now, it's probably some of my best work. Probably some of my best work.

Because, I mean, I think Chloe just wants it. She wants it now. She wants to be in the WNBA now because she put the work in, and when you put the type of work that she puts in, you know, the expectation is to be there.

For her it's just the other part of -- I just told them. We don't have to have team building. We don't have to bring experts in because Chloe knows about our program.

Chloe is allowing her teammates to enter into her space of she goes bowling by herself, she goes to the movies by herself. She does all these things. Pilates, boxing. She does all these things. Now she's sharing that space with her teammates. She's bringing her teammates along.

I'm super proud to know that we lose basically the core group of the Raven and the players that came before Raven, and we know that those players left that legacy to Chloe and Tessa, and they're doing a great job.

Q. Obviously no shortage of success during your tenure with several consecutive Final Fours and three national titles. I'm curious now that you've had two back-to-back losses in the national title, does that cause you to maybe tweak or reassess things more so than you usually would as you enter the season?

DAWN STALEY: I would say I don't think we're tweaking anything from a physical standpoint. I think mentally is where we need to be stronger because obviously I think there's been breakdown in our mental strength.

Having to have played, you know, tough matches in the semifinals and how we can get over the top, I think the mental aspects. So we probably go a little bit longer in practice just to get them -- to stretch them out a little bit, to dig in. When physically they're probably exhausted, something else has to kick in.

We're creating better mental habits.

Q. I'm curious to know, obviously you get a Jordan from Texas, the conversations bringing her into the program from what has become a rival for you guys in the conference.

DAWN STALEY: We recruited Jordan out of high school, and obviously the impression was already there. I think she liked what we brought to the table. I think at the time, you know, Texas was presented better. For someone like Jordy who -- she didn't take other visits. She's a young person that really understands what she wants, and if you -- I mean, she had a lot of questions. A lot of questions. After the visit, she called back and had a lot more questions.

You know, I think we made it fulfilling for her. We are pouring into her. She wants to be a pro, so we want to pour into her and maybe do some things that are a little bit more free-flowing.

Texas likes to run certain things, and they're very, very good at it. You know, maybe there's another side of that that she wants to add to her game, and hopefully we can provide that over the next two years to get her to that place where she's going to hear her name called on WNBA draft day.

Q. I just want to do ask you another question about Jordan. Obviously she brings a lot of great experience with two Final Fours under her belt. How would you evaluate just her summer she's had with you guys and how she's meshed with the team and found a role?

DAWN STALEY: Yeah, she's experienced. She comes in every -- she is high-performing, low maintenance. You really don't have to say much to her. You can really just coach her up as well. You give her one or two things that we need her to work on to get better at, and she is programmed like that. She needs to know what she needs to do. If you tell her that, you know, she's going to fulfill that task.

She's an elite defender. Like, elite, elite. What we probably lost in Raven, we probably gained a little bit back with Jordan, but we need Jordan to score the basketball as well. We need her -- the same qualities she gave Texas, we need her to be and probably lean on her a little bit more.

Especially in practices now, so when the games come around, she's a lot more comfortable with our system.

Q. During Thanksgiving weekend you're going to host a PowHER Classic with a number of HBCUs coming to Columbia, including Alabama A&M right up the road in Huntsville. Can you talk about that event and also talk about your relationship with the other Coach Dawn, who is now at Alabama A&M?

DAWN STALEY: One, I think we want to highlight HBCUs. Obviously we have two in Columbia that we do exhibition games with. I think it's one to highlight, right? It's one to give HBCU student-athletes an opportunity to capitalize in name, image, and likeness. They don't -- not at the level that our players really benefit from, so we want to make sure they feel that.

I don't know Coach Dawn as much. I don't think I've ever met her. I've seen her on social media. So it feels like I know her. It will be a great opportunity for them to see Columbia, for Rae Rose Media to put on an event that is much more than a game. Obviously the games are important, but the messaging behind what it represents is a larger message that we want to get across.