In 2008, Dawn Staley inherited a South Carolina women's basketball team that hadn't made the NCAA Tournament in five years and had only placed in the SEC's top four teams once in program history. Not only that, but Staley had a roster of players who weren't focused on playing professional basketball, which hindered the team.
In Staley, South Carolina was getting a proven winner and a culture-changer, exactly what the program needed. Staley had won three Olympic gold medals as a player and a fourth as a coach and led Temple to six 20-win seasons and six NCAA Tournament appearances in just eight seasons of coaching.
In the five years before Staley took over Temple never managed more than 10 wins, so the South Carolina job was a familiar challenge.
"The biggest challenge was probably just getting our players to love basketball," Staley said of her early days in Columbia. "Just changing the culture."
That can be a daunting task, but Staley said she accomplished it by finding players who had their focus set on playing at the next level.
"You have to get players that believe in your vision that pretty much have the same vision as you wanting to win a national championship," Staley said. "I wanted players that wanted to be pros, pro athletes, because they seem to be more invested in the basketball part of it."
Staley started recruiting top-flight talent as early as 2009 when she brought in the nation's No. 2 player in Kelsey Bone. Bone transferred after just one season, but that served as proof that Staley could recruit elite players.
Just two years later, Staley earned the pledge of South Carolina Miss Basketball Aleighsa Welch, who entered the WNBA after four years in Columbia. Tiffany Mitchell followed suit in 2012, followed by Alaina Coates in 2013 and then A'ja Wilson the following year. With those commitments, Staley had effectively changed the culture, if she hadn't done it already. Those four players have been the driving force for South Carolina's rise to national prominence, and Welch and Mitchell already are pros, while Coates and Wilson are well on their way.
"The moment came when the majority of our team became lovers of the game," Staley said when asked about the program's turning point. "Whatever the majority of your team is, the makeup of your players, you’re gonna be that."
The culture change has led to significant on-court success, as Staley has brought the Gamecocks to record heights, winning at least 29 games in each of the last three seasons, and leading them to the first Final Four in program history.
Now, the challenge is to keep the ball rolling. South Carolina has seven new players this season, three transfers and four freshmen. Staley won't have the luxury of relying on veterans as she did last season, but she feels comfortable with her established leadership to get the new players ready.
"They’ve gotta grow up fast," Staley said of the new additions. "We lean heavily on the returners to show them the ropes and get them up to speed about how we operate."
Senior Coates and junior Wilson will be counted on to lead on and off the court, and Staley is comfortable with how they've adjusted to their new roles.
"Our value system is success has a certain look sound and feel, and they know when those three qualities aren’t in place," Staley said.
South Carolina has top recruits again in 2016, particularly in USA Basketball's Tyasha Harris, the nation's No. 27 player. It may be a challenge to maintain elite status with so much turnover, but for Staley, it's nothing new.