Dawn Staley is part of an elite list of active women's college basketball coaches today. Before choosing to go down the coaching route, Staley had a decorated career in the WNBA as a player.
She isn't the only one to have this journey to become a head coach in women's college basketball though, as other programs also have head coaches who have been through similar journeys.
Here, we take a look at five college basketball head coaches who were once WNBA players.
Five college basketball head coaches including Dawn Staley who played in the WNBA
5. Candice Dupree, Tennessee State
Candice Dupree replaced the departing Ty Evans as head coach of the Tennessee State Lady Tigers during this past offseason. After enjoying a successful career in college basketball at Temple, Dupree was made the sixth overall pick of the 2006 WNBA draft by the Chicago Sky.
In a WNBA career spanning 16 seasons, Dupree had stints with the Sky, the Phoenix Mercury, the Indiana Fever, the Seattle Storm and the Atlanta Dream. She won the WNBA championship with the Mercury in 2014 and was named a WNBA All-Star seven times.
4. Kara Lawson, Duke
After starring for the University of Tennessee in college, Lawson was the fifth overall pick in the 2003 WNBA draft by the Detroit Shock. However, she was traded to the Sacramento Monarchs for Kedra Holland-Corn and a second-round pick in the following year's draft.
She made a name for herself at the Monarchs, helping them win the WNBA championship in 2005 and was named a WNBA All-Star in 2007.
Besides the Monarchs, Lawson also represented the Connecticut Sun and the Washington Mystics in a WNBA career that spanned 13 seasons.
Lawson, who spent time as an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics in the NBA, was named Duke's head coach in 2020.
3. Niele Ivey, Notre Dame
After leading the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to the national championship in 2001, Ivey was a second-round pick for the Indiana Fever in that year's WNBA draft.
After four seasons with the Fever, Ivey split the 2005 season between the Phoenix Mercury and the Detroit Shock, before calling time on her playing career at the end of the season.
Ivey spent several years as an assistant in both college and the NBA before being named Notre Dame head coach in 2020.
2. Adia Barnes, Arizona
The Sacramento Monarchs made Barnes a fourth-round pick in the 1998 WNBA draft. Besides the Monarchs, she also played for the Minnesota Lynx and the Cleveland Rockers before ending her WNBA career with the Seattle Storm in the best way possible, winning her only WNBA championship in 2004.
After calling time on her playing career, Barnes became an assistant at Washington from 2011 to 2016 before getting the head coaching job at her alma mater Arizona in 2016.
1. Dawn Staley, South Carolina
After a decorated college basketball career at Virginia in which she won the Naismith College Player of the Year Award twice, Dawn Staley was made the ninth overall pick in the 1999 WNBA draft by the Charlotte Sting. She was named a WNBA All-Star six times and earned a spot on the 10th and 15th Anniversary Teams of the WNBA.
Dawn Staley also represented the Houston Comets and spent the majority of her WNBA career serving as the head coach of Temple simultaneously. After calling time on her playing career in 2006, Staley continued as the head coach of Temple, before beginning her journey as the Gamecocks' head coach two years later. To date, she has led South Carolina to three national championships.
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