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SEC Staff
Photo: SEC Staff
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (October 4, 2022) – Dawn Staley will receive the John R. Wooden Award “Legends of Coaching” in 2023. Coach Wooden’s grandson, Craig Impelman, and 2021 winner, Dave Yanai, were proud to announce his selection for the annual Wooden Award from the Los Angeles Athletic Club. Excluding lunch. The event featured the head coaches of the Division I men’s basketball programs in Southern California. The “Legends of Coaching” honor recognizes coaches who exemplify Coach Wooden’s high level of success and personal integrity.
The “Legends of Coaching” award was adopted by the Wooden Award Steering Committee in 1999. Recipients are selected based on character, success on the court, student-athlete graduation rate in their basketball program -ball, coaching philosophy and goal identification. of the John R. Wooden Prize. She will receive this honor along with the winners of the Wooden Award 2023 on April 7, 2023.
Coach Staley, a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, began her coaching career at Temple University, where she led the Owls to six NCAA tournament appearances during her eight years at the helm. She guided the University of South Carolina to incredible heights during her 14 years training there. She led the Gamecocks to two national championships (2017 and 2022), four Final Four appearances, six SEC regular season championships, six SEC tournament championships, and coached two John R. Wooden Award winners (A’ja Wilson in 2018 and Aliyah Boston in 2022). She also won three Olympic gold medals as the coach of the USA women’s basketball team, two as an assistant coach (2008 and 2016) and one as a head coach (2020).
Staley’s exploits also carry over to his incredible career on the pitch. Two-time National Player of the Year at the University of Virginia, led the Cavaliers to three finals and was named Most Outstanding Player of the 1991 tournament. Six-time WNBA All Star, in 2011 she was named one of the WNBA’s Top 15 Women’s Players of All Time, honoring the best players of the league’s first 15 years. Internationally, Staley has won three Olympic gold medals (1996, 2000 and 2004). In recognition of her great playing career, she was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.
Off the field, Coach Staley has been a beacon in his community. She is the co-founder of INNERSOLE, which aims to provide new sneakers for homeless children and children in need. Following her playing career, the WNBA created the Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award, which is given annually to a player who exemplifies the characteristics of leadership in the community in which she lives or works.
John R. Wooden Award
Legends of Honored Coaches
2023 Dawn Staley, South Carolina
2022 Rick Byrd, Belmont
2021 Dave Yanai, State of California Dominguez Hills/Los Angeles
2020 C. Vivian Stringer, Rutgers
2019 Lon Kruger, Oklahoma
2018 Jay Wright, Villanova
2017 Muffet McGraw, Notre Dame
2016 Tubby Smith, Texas Tech
2015 Steve Fisher, San Diego State
2014 Tara Van Derveer, Stanford
2013 Bill Self, Kansas
2012 Geno Auriemma, Connecticut
2011 Tom Izzo, Michigan State
2010 Billy Donovan, Florida
2009 Rick Barnes, Texas
2008 Pat Summitt, Tennessee
2007 Gene Keady, Purdue
2006 Jim Boeheim, Syracuse
2005Jim Calhoun, Connecticut
2004 Mike Montgomery, Stanford
2003Roy Williams, Kansas
2002 Denny Crum, Louisville
2001 Lute Olson, Arizona
2000 Mike Krzyzewski, Duke
1999 Dean Smith, North Carolina
About the John R. Wooden Award
Established in 1976, the John R. Wooden Awards Program hosts college basketball’s most prestigious honors recognizing the Most Outstanding Player in Woods for men and women, the All America Teams Woods Award for men and women, and the Selection annual Wooden Award Legend. of Coaching recipient. Recipients have demonstrated to their university that they meet or exceed the qualifications for the John R. Wooden Award as set forth by Coach Wooden and the Wooden Award Steering Committee, including progressing toward graduation and maintaining at least a cumulative GPA of 2.0. Previous winners include Larry Bird (’79), Michael Jordan (’84), Tim Duncan (’97), Kevin Durant (’07), Candace Parker (’07; ’08), Maya Moore (’09; ’11 ), Chiney Ogwumike (’14), and last year’s recipients Aliyah Boston of South Carolina and Oscar Tshiebwe of Kentucky.
Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed nearly $1 million to the universities’ general scholarship fund on behalf of Wooden Award All American recipients and has sent more than 1,000 underprivileged children to camps for week-long varsity basketball. Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award partners with the Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament. The one-day tournament features Special Olympics and Wood Award All Americans athletes and coaches in attendance. It is hosted at the Los Angeles Athletic Club during the John R. Wooden Award weekend.
The Legends of Coaching award will be presented along with the Wooden Male and Female Player of the Year award on April 7, 2023. For up-to-date information on the Wooden award, please visit www.woodenaward.com and follow the Wooden Award on Facebook at www.facebook.com/woodenaward and @WoodenAward on Twitter and Instagram.