"We had to hand paint every line": When Dawn Staley got 100% real on her struggles and love for basketball since a young age

After 25 years as a coach, Dawn Staley has established herself as one of the finest in college basketball, having won three national titles with South Carolina. She even carved out a successful playing career, spending eight seasons in the WNBA and earning six All-Star honors.

However, Staley's love for basketball began at a young age, as she wrote in a column for The Players' Tribune in November 2018.

"We felt like — because we lived in a row home — we lived in the suburbs," Staley wrote. "You understand? ‘Cause we didn’t live in a high-rise. The big field behind our row house had a softball field, basketball court and baseball field all within it. It wasn’t one of those fancy facilities with nicely drawn chalk lines. Nah — the projects don’t have those.

"We had to hand paint every line. We had to create everything. We even made a track. Not one of those nice Olympic tracks. We had to hand-draw the lanes. They weren’t straight lines but they were enough to understand which lane was yours when the relay races started.

"We made baskets out of crates for the basketball court. Just cut the bottom out of the crate and nail it to a piece of wood. Boom — you got a backboard."

Staley was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she grew up with three brothers and a sister. She attended Dobbins Tech High School in Philadelphia and played basketball for the school's team. In her senior year, she was named the National High School Player of the Year.

Staley then played four years of college basketball at Virginia from 1988 to 1992. She played overseas at a professional level for one year before returning to the U.S. to play in the American Basketball League.

Dawn Staley entered the 1999 WNBA draft, where the Charlotte Sting took her with the No. 9 pick. She spent seven seasons with them before joining the Houston Comets in 2005.

Staley retired from playing basketball after the 2006 WNBA season.

Dawn Staley expected to remain as South Carolina HC amid interest from NBA's New York Knicks

NCAA Womens Basketball: South Carolina HC Dawn Staley - Source: Imagn

Dawn Staley recently garnered interest from the NBA's New York Knicks to fill their vacant head coaching position. She could have made history as the first female coach in the NBA.

However, reports suggest that Staley plans to remain coaching at South Carolina, where she has been since 2008.

In 17 seasons as the Gamecocks' coach, Staley has led the team to a 475-110 record. Along with three national championships, she has won nine SEC regular season titles and nine conference tournaments.

She led South Carolina to the national title game this year, but her team lost to Geno Auriemma's UConn at the final hurdle.