dawn staley: “I am actually waiting for a critic”: $12 million worth Dawn Staley reflects on early reviews of her book ‘Uncommon Favor’

South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley has built one of the strongest programs in college basketball. But taking the Gamecocks to their second straight championship game is not the only thing she's done this year: she also published a book.

Her book, 'Uncommon Favor: Basketball, North Philly, My Mother And The Life Lessons I Learned From All Three,' was released on Tuesday, and the $12 million worth head coach (per Celebrity Net Worth) has enjoyed the process. She shared her thoughts on Thursday's "The Breakfast Club."

"I had fun. The process was fun," Staley said (1:41). "It's liberating. You don't really know how you're going to be received, but every person (has liked it). I'm actually waiting for a critic. Like, I'm waiting for somebody say what didn't go right in the book and we have yet to get to that point."

For Dawn Staley, her first book is also a personal experience. Something she immersed herself in, which she believes makes it relatable for readers.

"The emotions that are in the book and it's me," Staley said. "So some of it is emotional me, some of it is just, I'm able to just get it out because I remembered most of it and I had to call on my siblings to kind of fill in the gaps. But it's me."

Dawn Staley has led South Carolina to three national championships in the last eight years, including back-to-back national championship games the past two seasons.

While the Gamecocks beat Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes in 2024, they fell short this year, losing to the UConn Huskies in the title game.

Dawn Staley applauds parents' decision to grow up in the projects

In the book, Dawn Staley mentions that growing up in the projects was her parents' "best decision." The head coach also went into detail during her appearance on the show.

"For me, it was the foundation of giving me the scars I needed, the chinks in the armor I needed to succeed," Staley said (6:25). " There was unity in the projects. There was discipline in the projects. There were manicured lawns."

Dawn Staley grew up in North Philadelphia. She still has a close connection to her hometown, supporting Philly sports teams. She was also the head basketball coach at Temple for eight years before moving to Columbia in 2008.

About the author

Allan Wolburg Robles is a College Sports journalist at Sportskeeda with over 17 years of experience in the field writing for publications including Reforma, Yahoo! OddsShark and Apuesta. Allan studied Communications at Anáhuac University, where he learned what would become the basis of a trade that was already a dream of his before starting college.

His favorite team is Army West Point as when he was young, Allan lived in West Point for a couple of years, went to pretty much every home game, a couple of Army-Navy games and even got to meet some of the players.

Allan's favorite players of all time include Tommie Frazier, who was unbelievable during the Nebraska dynasty of the early 90's. Tim Tebow was also a favorite, mainly because of his leadership skills, although he was also awesome on the football field. As a fan of defensive football, (or what's left of it), Sean Taylor could take over a game for Miami.

Allan has always considered himself a student of the game more than a fan of it. So the historical part and evolution of the game, as well as the ins and outs of what happens on the field, and being able to put it into words for the audience, are his biggest strengths.

Besides sports, Allan enjoys reading books, watching movies and spending time with his dogs.

Know More

Dawn Staley, Geno Auriemma, or Kim Mulkey - who is NCAAW's highest-paid coach? Find out here

Edited by Chaitanya Prakash