College hoops legend Dawn Staley gets candid on having a statue in South Carolina; pokes fun at broadcaster: “Where’s yours?”

After three NCAA championships, South Carolina coach Dawn Staley is in rarified company. Rare enough company that recently, a statue of Staley was unveiled on the South Carolina campus.

White Staley has been a massive achiever, first as a player and then as a coach, and recent as an author of a memoir, Uncommon Favor, she freely acknowledged in a recent appearance on Good Morning America that a statue version of herself is outside her normal scope of expectation.

Statue Staley? Literary Staley?

"It speaks to the book, the uncommon favor. It's unimaginable. I didn't want-- I had goals of being an Olympian, I had goals of being a national champion. I didn't ever have a goal of having a statue. But now, other little girls can grow up and say, 'I want a statue. That's a goal of mine, to have a statue.' And it's so incredibly cool because only six percent of women across the world have a statue. [To interviewer Robin Roberts] Where's yours?"-- Dawn Staley

Staley's journey is indeed the sort of thing found in books, which is likely why the legendary Gamecock boss took up the proverbial pen to write her own. Uncommon Favor: Basketball, North Philly, My Mother, and the Life Lessons I Learned From All Three has just released. If Staley's literary work is as successful as her hoops skills, look out.

Staley is from North Philadelphia, which as she jokes in her author biography on her book, "means she can do anything." She had a successful playing career at Virginia, then played in the WNBA while she began her coaching career at Temple, located in Philadelphia.

Staley ultimately ended up at South Carolina, where her parents were originally from. With her statue, her long-term identity with the Gamecocks looks secure.

Staley's transfer portal dealing

It's been a busy offseason for Staley since the Gamecocks fell to UConn in the national title game. Returning guard MiLaysia Fulwiley hit the transfer portal, ultimately ending up with Kim Mulkey and LSU.

But Staley didn't exactly rest on her laurels. She added the nation's top scorer from last season, Florida State's Ta'Niya Latson, and then nabbed another major transfer in Mississsippi State post player Madina Okot.

South Carolina had never been to a Final Four before Staley's coaching tenure, but she has led the Gamecocks into each of the last five Final Fours and seven of the last ten. With every tribute from statutes to books, Staley is on track for more big moments ahead.