November 8, 2021 • 55 mins
Dawn Staley grew up in a very competitive household that prepared her for whatever the outside world would throw at her - but nothing could have readied her for being a female basketball player in the early ’90s. The WNBA was non-existent, players did not have many career opportunities to compete professionally, but Staley was determined. She played overseas, worked odd jobs, and kept her head in the game, but not even she could have predicted the road that would lead her to South Carolina. After years of playing and coaching, Staley had witnessed various degrees of inequity, but this year '2021" she changed the sport and the trajectory for women to follow her. With the new season gearing up to start this month, it is game on as usual for the University of South Carolina Women Basketball team, but off-the-court Dawn Staley has already won! During this episode, Staley speaks openly about her journey and what it took to get her here, and the risk involved-one thing is for certain; she earned this moment. Now back to the game.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I wanted equal pay like I wanted. I wanted equal
pay and I never backed down from it because, um,
here I am. I'm writing letters. Um I'm reading letters
to say to speak on all the inequities that happened
at in San Antonio at the n C Double A Tournament.
(00:21):
Like you know, I got it out. I had to
get it off my chest and then I had to,
you know, just move on and focus on our team.
And then it stayed with me when we got back,
like I am I gonna be out here politicking and
fighting for equality nationally, and then we we don't. I
(00:43):
don't even have it here. It's now and it's not
been you know, discussion about it. So then I'm like, hell,
I'm going for it. Like for I'm like, I'm going
for it, Like this is what I was cashing in. Y'all.
We're talking about don Staley and her historic deal making
her the highest paid coach and women's college basketball. I'm
happy for She's joining us next on Naked Every Champion
(01:17):
and carry Champions to be a champion, the Champion and
carry Champion and carry Champion the Champion and carry Champion
and carry CHAPPI Raiers Raiders and Sports and entertainment can
naked weird in the world with vulnerable considered, we come
and remove the vail from entertainment elite. It's a difference
between with it's real and with the public seats. So
here's your favorite celebrities behind the scenes. It's refreshing up.
(01:39):
Then the whole story specific life ought to rend events
to shake the person that you hear. We gotta champion.
They carry champion, the girl you did it. It's the
greatest in sports and entertainment. Cannaked with every champion and
carry champions. To be a champion, the champion, they carry champion.
They girl champy down the champion. They carry champion and
carry champion. Raiders free and sports and entertainment and they Hey,
(02:01):
I'm so excited to have Don Staley on UM. I
told you she was cashing in, uh well deserved. By
way of background, Don Staley from Philly, and she was
very clear. Some people try to say that from Philly
and a from Philly, you gotta check the area. Coach.
She'll get into that because she's from Philly and she's
unapologetic about whom she is or how she moves. And
(02:22):
I love that about her. Just recently, you may have
read that she signed a huge deal with the University
of South Carolina as the head women's basketball coach. She
is now looking at a historic contract seven years, two
point four million dollars, making about a little a little
under three million a year. That's two point nine It
(02:42):
was a huge pay day for her, putting her up
there with the big boys, and it's well deserved. She's
already won a chip there. But she's a four time Olympian,
She's a hard worker, and she really does defined to
me what it means to be a coach. Don Staley says,
I meet my players where they are, and from that
moment on, I hate them to where they want to go.
She said she was taught that way when she was
(03:04):
playing college basketball at the University of Virginia, and she
wanted to be um similar to who raised her, if
you will, and I respect that because you see, there
are people in your life oftentimes who really make a
huge impact. And for her it was her basketball coach
and all done ever wanted to do. And she'll tell
(03:25):
you this on the podcast is Just play Ball. At
the time in which she graduated from college, there was
no w N b a so don I want to
go work at a retail store. Can you imagine loving
something so much? But there is no way you can
do what you love because there's no professional league. And
I think we take the w NBA for granted now
(03:45):
because we didn't realize that it's only been around for
twenty five years, like there was a life in which
there was no women's basketball. If you love this, good
for you? How do you stay in the game. You'd
be a coach. You may be able to play overseas,
you work hard to be an Olympian, but that is it. Well,
she's done all of the above. She played overseas, she's
(04:07):
a four time Olympian, and she is now arguably the
highest paid coach in women's college basketball. And I am impressed.
Her story is impressive. I am impressed, and her story
is impressive. Sit back, relax, and enjoy this edition y'all
of Naked with South Carolina's Don Staying and carp and
(04:29):
I have so many, so much to congratulate you on
and just I'm personally just happy that you're here. Um
from Afar. I you know, while working at ESPN and
covering sports, I just always admired everything about who you are.
So I've always had a hardcore crush like she's but
you seem like you no nonsense. I was like, goofy,
(04:49):
asked if I met her, she'd be like, all right,
coming down, you know what I mean? So welcome to Naked,
where we talk about any and everything, and the goal
is is just to find out how these extraordinary people
become so extraordinary. But usually they don't know that they're extraordinary.
They're just real humble. So I'm reading about you and
how you grew up um Philly. Take me there. Tell
(05:14):
me about a young Don Stalely before she ran the world. Philly,
specifically North Philly. Like, when you're from Philly, to be clear,
you gotta be clear where you're from because everyone that
says they're from Philly don't have a two one five
or two six seven in front of their phone number.
(05:35):
So if you got something other than that, then you're
from outside of Philly. But I'm from North Philly. I
grew up in the in the housing projects called the
Raymond Rosen Housing Projects. And if I can give you
a visual, it is um row homes that are in
this circular form uh within within the row homes is
(06:02):
a big field. I mean it's a huge field that
had a basketball court, a baseball court, and a baseball field,
a softball field. Um. And then we made we made
a track just with like sometimes it was chalk, sometimes
it was you know, borrow paint. Um. But if you
(06:24):
can imagine, we just had a a project Olympics because
we had all this this space. Um. We didn't always
have all the equipment to um to actually play all
the sports, but we made it work. UM. I grew
up in the household of it was seven of us,
(06:47):
you know, I had had a mom and dad and
for my older siblings, I'm the youngest. UM. And if
you've grown up in the projects, there's a thing called
hand me downs. You know, the everything, the clothes, Um,
it's hand me down, and very very often you you
(07:11):
don't get your own clothes, you don't get your something
that you call your own. You're sharing the room with
I shared the room with my sister, My three brothers
shared the room. My parents had a room and that
was it. And then we fought, uh to get to
the bathroom. Um. You got brothers who and we didn't
have a shower back then. We had to take a bath.
(07:31):
Like it wasn't like it was a bath. You gotta
run the water, you know, in the projects, you run
out of hot water, so you try to fight to
get the first be the first one to take a bath. Um.
So it was very very remember sometimes right right, So
it was it was super competitive. Um. All of my
(07:55):
siblings except my sister could play a sport. So it
was it was a knockout, dragout. But all the sports
for us started inside our house. Like, um, we had
this in the projects. You had a you know the event,
you know, the the growing up in the project. You
had good heat though you had like great you had
(08:19):
to turn the heat off in the winter because it
was that hot. But we used to ball up alumni
foil and we would shoot jumpers on it was a
little lip. It was probably i would say no more
than three inches from why and probably three inches from
(08:40):
the ceiling, and we would shoot jumpers on it. We
would dunking each other, you know, you would you would
cut your you know, your fingers trying to dunk on
your your sibling. But I would say it was just
a an incredible, super competitive um household that once you
went outside of our household. Uh, it was easy for
(09:01):
you to just compete with anybody that was um within
the confines of of our neighborhood. M hm. So you
grow up being a competitor. Everyone knows you are a
die hard competitor. It starts in the household. That's that,
there's the essence of who you are. Um, and everyone,
(09:21):
I think not everyone, but they mentioned height. They always
talk about height, and despite being this tall, she was
able to do that. When people say that, or when
they said that when you were younger, how how did
that make you feel? Um? I mean, obviously I I
wasn't always short like I mean, I forgot. I was
average height when I was growing up, and then everybody
(09:45):
else sprung up, you know, as as they got older.
I was the only one that pretty much stayed the
same height. So, you know, as I'm growing up and
as I'm staying at the same height, they did say that.
They did say, you know you you can't play for
for us. It was the big boy court, like, it
was the big guys playing, the top neighborhood guys playing
(10:08):
on the court. So they they the gout. The the
big guys thought of me as just a little girl.
Like this is too rough for you. You know you
you won't be able to play with us. Maybe you
could play stick around and play after Um. So the
height thing that didn't bother me. It was the fact
(10:31):
that they said, um, I couldn't play on the big
boy court. Um, because they looked at me like the
little girl. UM. But if you looked inside, I was
super competitive. I was you know, I was tough. Like
there wasn't anything that you couldn't do to me on
a basketball court that would shake my equilibrium. Nothing like
(10:52):
you you can set a hard pick, I'll set a
hard pick on you. Um, you can trip me, you can.
As long as it was in a of finds of
the court, I didn't really feel any pain. It was
just it was just what we do in the projects.
It was just how we played in the projects. So
the height wasn't I didn't look at my height as
(11:14):
a disadvantage. I looked at the fact that maybe my
skill set didn't didn't stack up to playing on the
big court, big boy court. It was it was never.
It was never like I was too short. It was
more of you know, I took it as and maybe
I just blocked it out because I didn't want it
to be because of my height, because I couldn't do
(11:35):
anything about my height, but I surely could home my
skills to pass, be a better passer, to be a
better shooter, to be a better decision maker. And that's
what I concentrated on until you know that that blessed
up day to where I wanted the first people that
they picked to play on the big boy court. Yeah, yeah, okay,
(11:59):
I love it. So I was gonna ask had so
many questions from that. What are the ingredients to be
so fearless that you have? Is that a mixture of
growing up? Is that is how you what your parents
taught you, what you saw your neighborhood. What makes you
so fearless? Also where you have no awareness of pain,
(12:22):
like not nothing bothered you. Um, I mean I'm the
youngest of five, Um, so I I used to fight
my older brothers. My oldest brother who we share birthday,
I can't have anything to myself. Um he's eight years
older than me. Um, My recently deceased brother was seven
(12:43):
years older than me, My sisters six years older than me.
And then I got another brother that's two years older
than me. So I had the most difficult time with
my oldest brother, who we all considered a bully. He
was a bully before bullying was popular. He was a
bully like forty five years ago. Um right, So there
(13:09):
wasn't even a name for that back then. Besides being
an older sibling that tried that tried to um. I mean,
he just tried to dish out chores. I mean things
that my my mom told him to do. He tried
to I know that, Yeah, no, I'm not doing this.
(13:29):
So he would try to make me do it, and
I'm just like, no, I'm not doing it. I don't
you can. We called it muggy like. He would take
my take his hand and kind of push my face
back and mug me. He would do all these things
to me, But I still I wasn't going to clean
the bathroom because that's your job. So I think I
got my toughness from being in a house hold full
(13:52):
of testosterone and and and a and a bully mentality
and my and my older brother. And I just think
that that's helped me be fearless. It helped me when
I got out side of my home that I've already
seen the worst of the worst in my household. So
you know, anybody else is not gonna do anything that's
(14:13):
gonna hurt me. You're gonna hurt my feelings, You're not
gonna physically hurt me because I can. I can take
you know, I can take pain. You you know, one thing.
And growing up in in Philly, um, we we see crying,
complaining as a weakness and people will take advantage of
(14:36):
that very thing if they feel like they can get
under your skin and they can want up you in
some type of way. And I just felt like, you know,
it prepared me for whatever life through at me. And
I think it helped me just mentally be stronger because
physically you can't hurt um. But if if your mind
(14:59):
is stronger than that pain, then it's just pain and
nothing else besides pain, and pain is temporary. Every every athlete,
every every coulch, every person I talked to, it's always
the same thing. You gotta have amnesia. You gotta be
mentally tough. That that that that accounts for so much
of whatever sport you're in the game. When you take
(15:21):
this mentality to college, you go in and you have
this reputation of being who you are and and and
good at what you do, Um, what adjustments do you
think you have to make? And I'm not even talking
about on the court. I'm just talking about it in life,
dealing with other people more at tension than you've ever had,
perhaps a different environment in terms of interacting with folks
(15:42):
because they know you're special. I would say that mentality
doesn't always work in every you know, in every arena,
so to speak. You know, I went, I went to
probably wanted to, you know, the whitest, most privileged universes.
You did, So that's something like, so, how you going there?
You up? I'm from North Philly turned seven? Yes, so so,
(16:08):
And I didn't know. I didn't know I was. I
was me like, you know, if you're from Philly, you're
gonna be you more times than not. People are gonna
have to pivot and adjust to you versus you to them. Um.
And especially when you know, for me, when it came
to sports, Um, I was known for that. But I
(16:33):
didn't know there was a world outside of sports. Really,
I didn't like, I didn't know, like I don't want
back then, I didn't even like talking to people like,
I didn't I was shy. Um. I expressed myself through
playing sports. But I'm gonna I'm gonna be honest with you.
I found myself an academic um trouble my first year
(16:56):
at Virginia. And when you aren't good at something, you
invite other people into your life that you don't necessarily
want in your life. It's extra. Conversations for me is extra.
And I'm gonna just say it's you know, this is
(17:17):
what the dean told me. Because I had to sit
down and talk to the dean, I had to you know,
I didn't know anything. I didn't give her eye contact,
I didn't um, you know, I didn't you know, pronounce
my words. I was very, very uncomfortable. You're having a
conversation with the dean of a of a school that's
gonna determine whether or not I get to stay or
(17:39):
or leave. So I wasn't savvy enough and I wasn't
sophisticated enough to know. So I did what I would
normally do, is I shut down, and you know, and
I'm like, do what you gotta do, what you gotta do,
um and I and I look back on that and
I'm just like, that was the wrong thing to do.
(17:59):
But chief said, she said, you know, she said sometimes
you're gonna have to conform to your environment. And maybe
you know, I didn't know what that were meant at
the time because I was just like, you know, I
I'm not I'm not kissing anybody's ass. You know this,
(18:21):
This is who I am. I mean, I'm just dumb.
I mean really just ain't aware of nothing. But I'm Philly.
I'm North Philly. What what you mean? I gotta conform.
I'm not gonna bow down to anybody. I'm gonna beat me.
I'm gonna be This was in my bubble because I
really wasn't saying this. It was you could tell by
the look of my face that I'm just like um.
(18:44):
But when when you're talking about separating like me from
the very thing that I love, which is basketball, um,
you learn, you learn to grow up a little bit quicker. UM.
I was grateful to have a coach to explain that
part to me and help me understand how to deal
(19:05):
in those type of situations. So DeBie Ryan had to
go back to the Dean and just basically give some
background or who I am as a person and and
how I operate. Um, Because if if you don't have
that person, it's a you know it's a Debbie was
(19:26):
like a sponsor to me. She was a sponsor. UM
one that is was well respected, um on on the
grounds we call them grounds, we don't say campus on grounds.
She's well respected, and UM if she wasn't, then I
would have been, you know, one of those statistics that
had to leave u v A and go on and
somewhere else and start over. And UM, who knows if
(19:50):
that would have been the thing that develed me from
um being successful in my life. UM. But you do
have to conform. You do have to learn, you have
to learn how to of it. You you you have to
you know, you gotta do things for your own good.
You gotta get out of your way so you can
so you can be successful. And those interactions at u
(20:12):
v A really helped me, probably more so in my
This is my twenty second year coaching, but those first
eight those are the kinds of pivoting that I've had
to do, uh with my players to have a really
good understanding of what their needs are. And I have
(20:34):
to be a good resource for them because somebody was
just that for me. Did you realize, see there's a
difference between and and there's so many buzzwords now everyone
uses awareness and self care and all the other words
that you be here. Did you realize while you were
at u v A that coach was doing that for you,
(20:56):
that she was helping you learn to conform and pivot.
You understand that that was going to be necessary for
you to succeed? Then not now? Then no, no, I
mean because a lot of that happened, um out of earshot, um.
(21:16):
But but for me, I'm smart enough to just know
that my performance in front of that dean was not
what did not put me in the position of um
giving me a second chance. So something had to happen
in order for me to be where I am, and
(21:39):
all of my communications were we're with my coach. So
I just put two and two together that Hey, this
is this is DEBI working. This isn't this isn't me,
This isn't you know, being a star basketball player. This
is an adult who really understands the big picture and
(22:00):
and someone that knows that if you take basketball away
from this this young lady, um, she's going back to
the projects. Um, and we we really don't want herds.
We don't want that outcome. That's beautiful. I'm writing it down.
That's beautiful. How do you feel about coach now? I
(22:21):
love I love Debbie Ryan. I love like Debbie Ryan
was a coach. Who Um, I mean I I was
pretty special coming out of high school. Like I was,
I was a good player. Um. But when you when
you coach a good player, you can you can coach
(22:43):
that player with handcuffs on. You can, you know you can.
You can give a short leash and just let in
my case, just let her go just a little bit
and pull her back, or you take all of her.
You let her be creative, and then you teach her
(23:04):
as she's making mistakes along the way. Um, and then
you allow her to figure it out. And I call
that meeting me where I was, to take me where
I need to go. And that's who I am as
a coach. That's that's if if I had to put
that in a nutshell is I'm really good at meeting
(23:26):
people where they are. I don't try to change them,
I don't try to know. I meet you where you
are and I help you with where you're trying to go.
And that that takes communication. I gotta know where you
want to go your words, not my words, your words.
So if you want to go to the league, if
you wanna, if you want to be a doctor, um,
(23:47):
if you want to be a coach, I'm gonna meet
you where you are and I'm gonna guide you through
what the pitfalls of life, UM, and I'm gonna embrace
you through the you know, the good times. I mean
(24:07):
it is you know, pushing and pulling. It is UM
getting young people to realize the big picture, because sometimes
they lose sight of that, and then sometimes they're only
focused on the big picture that they lose sight of
the the details that's needed in front of them. The
way you describe that visually for me, meeting people where
(24:27):
they are pitfalls, ups and downs, but meeting them where
they are and taking them where they want to be
very much illustrates what I think your career was, right,
because there was no w n b A when you
when you graduated and you played overseas and then you
joined the league. The w n b A was yere one, right?
Am I wrong? Do I have the document? Three? You're three?
(24:48):
H How would you describe that time? Because basketball was
all you know? You said you loved it so much,
so you were playing any any and everywhere. How would
you describe that time for you when there wasn't quote
unquote a profession no option here in the States? Right? Hard?
That was? That was probably the hardest. And you have
to you have to think in when I graduated from Virginia,
(25:10):
I was college player of the year, UM. When UM.
During that same year, Larry Johnson Grandmama was was the
college play of the year. He signed an eighty million
dollar contract. I signed And it wasn't right. It wasn't
(25:31):
right after college like basketball season that started probably in September.
So I'm home. I'm home with a with a retail job,
and I wasn't very good at it, Like I wasn't
like some things are meant for people and some things
(25:52):
aren't me. Working in retail was not for me because
I didn't like to interact with people. I didn't like
to talk to people. So we had customers, I would go,
I would go far away from them, and I love
folding clothes. I would I would I would fold close.
I would just make myself busy. Um. And then probably
six weeks after that season started, I had to replace
(26:15):
a guard in Segovia, Spain. So I signed a thirty
five thousand dollar contract the goal play in Segovia, Spain.
And when I got there, I mean, I was happy
obviously to do the thing that I love. But when
I got there, it was a lot different than college,
(26:36):
because college, you know, your day is pretty much you know, uh,
schedules for you, um what overseas you you practice maybe
once or twice a day, and then you know you're
on your own. And I've never been like on my
own like that, having a fend for myself, having to
go to the grocery store and buy food to cook. Um.
(26:59):
And then the basketball wasn't but I was anticipating. I
was thought I was going to the pros. So there
were certain things that will already be in place, and
I was gonna be in the place of continuing to
learn um. But it was a lot different back then
because if you were the American or the foreigner, you
(27:20):
were expected to score, you know, fifty fifty points, and
if you didn't win and you didn't score those points,
they really put the blame on you. They don't mind
saying it's your fault. This is what we're paying you
to come here to help us win. So it was
and it was like imitating. It was like imitating the
(27:41):
the NBA, And I was just used to playing basketball
as like you know, in college, you're playing as a team,
you're moving the ball with you. You know, everybody gets
to touch the ball when it was the direct opposite,
like you put the ball into the super superstars hands
and you you gotta you gotta perform magic. Um. But
(28:04):
I was super happy that I had an outlet to
continue to play. So, I mean, I lived out of
a suitcase. But I surely just and enjoyed playing. Um,
I didn't enjoy because back then you didn't have you know,
you didn't have WiFi, you had a land line. So
(28:28):
my people, yeah, so my my, my telephone bills were
like two grando months back. Your check, your check, yeah, yes,
all my money goes through my phone. Yeah, I get it. Yea.
On the other side of the break, we hear more
(28:49):
from don Staley and how she was able to do
all these wonderful things that she just says so dismissively,
like it's not a big deal, but she's a superstar.
But more importantly, eat him. In the every champion and
carry champion has to be a champion, a champion and
carry chappion and carry champion, a champion and carry chappion
and carry Chappion sports. And then the Taming can naked work.
(29:14):
Every champion and carry chappion is to be a champion,
a champion, they carry champion, they champion, they carry Champion,
they carry Champion sports, and the the Taming can naked war.
All right, you guys, we talked about it, Don Staley
giving us that truth with an app are naked. Here's more.
(29:36):
But first of all, you go from because I think
people who are listening can't understand, you go from being
the number one college player in that same year, your
male counterpart town signs an eight million dollar deal and
you folting clothes, and then you go overseas because that's
the only way where you can at least do what
(29:56):
you love. UM and your homesick and they're all these
other options is to love hate relationship, to do what
you have to do. You imagine if I had to
pick up and leave and move to another country so
I could just do what I gotta do, which to
me is mind blowing now like the thought of that,
but it also talks about your commitment. Walk me through
how you decided to be in the w n B
(30:18):
A or ended up playing in the w n B
A and leaving overseas and what that experience was like. Well,
the main reason why I went overseas was because I
wanted to be an Olympian UM. And when I tried
out for the Olympic team, I got cut um and
the two things that they said, Well, the reasons why
(30:40):
I got cut was one, I was too short, and
there's that short thing again. And I didn't have enough
international experience. So that's why I went overseas to play
to get myself ready for the that next Olympic Games,
which was ninety six. So I'm in overseason in ninety two,
(31:02):
ninety three, and ninety four and then that that following year,
like I went ninety four to ninety five, but I
came home a little bit early because I was a
little banged up over there and I wanted to just
kind of heal up so I can participate in the
Olympic trials. Um. So it is I mean, you you
(31:26):
have to be committed if you have goals, and you
have to understand. When I was growing up in the projects,
only saw women playing in two events. One was the
national championship. So I wanted to be a national champion
and two was in the Olympics, so I wanted to
be an Olympian and the gold medalist. So those were
(31:48):
and I didn't even think about a w n B
A I mean, and I knew the NBA was out,
So yeah, those two things just held my tension and
they made me super committed to that. And little did
I know, just from being involved in the nineties Olympic team,
(32:13):
two two women's basketball pro leagues, we're gonna be birthed
out of our experience, UM I had. I chose to
stay with the a b L because all of us
UM didn't know that there was gonna be a w
NBA league. So we committed to playing in the a
b L. So I did that for two years and
(32:33):
then I just felt like my body wouldn't be able
to take me playing year round like doing the traditional
basketball season. So I decided after two years to take
my talents to the w n B A uh, and
(32:53):
there we were talking victory. I we did a uh
think about the year of the the Olympic, year of
the woman I thought was and we did this whole
talk about all the different things that came from the Olympics.
And you're speaking of that now, um, And how would
you know? You wouldn't know, but you still have had
the opportunity to do both. I I feel like the
(33:19):
w n B A then versus now has has changed dramatically. Um.
I feel like this year, you give me your take
on it. This year there was more buzz around the finals,
I believe than ever before. More people are paying attention
where you know, the marketing feels better, it feels like
there is some value there. How would you view the
(33:41):
league when you play to now? Well, when I play,
the league was just you know, three years old, three too.
I think I played five or six years so three
to nine, it was under ten years old. Um. But
(34:01):
and I and I thought I thought it was talent field.
Back then, I thought it was super talented. And especially yeah,
especially yes when the A b L folded and all
those players had to come into w n B A,
it was top to bottom load packed packed, um. And
(34:26):
then if you fast forward, you know, fifteen sixteen years
from there. Um. As far as talent, I think the
talents up and the talents up because we've had twenty
five years of all of those those players that are
planning in the w n b A. Now they only
(34:46):
knew of a w n b A like their their
their lifespan was really only of having a women's professional
league here in the States. So they had something to
really work hard for. They have goals, so they're gonna
do everything they need that they need to do to
give themselves a chance to play in the league. Um,
(35:08):
and to do that, you gotta be really good. And
whilst you're gonna be, you're gonna be left behind. And
that makes it, you know, I mean if you pour
into anything like you know people who have poured into
the w n b A right, and the novelty has
worn off. And I thought for a while, um it
(35:32):
plants towed. But I think now we're we're coming back.
Like I think, this is this is time for women
like women in sports, this is this is our time,
Like we have to strike when the iron is hot
so we can get to another another fiftieth year, twenty
five more years. And I do think, I do think
(35:55):
you'll have a million dollar player, a multi million dollar
player in the in the near future. I do. Um,
you always try to compare UM leagues, you know. You you
you go back to the NBA, their first twenty five
years M. I don't know if there were a millionaires
(36:16):
then I say that now I say that now all
the time. I'm like, I'm not. I don't know, but
but but what I what I do know, and I
hope I'm not like how people romanticize what it used
to be like. But I do know if I feel
like if you sit it up and swoops even Lisa,
like y'all can take these girls like if this was
(36:38):
it was the talent then versus the talent now right,
there's a lot of talent, But I felt like it
was more gritty. I felt like it was more you
know what I'm saying, Like y'all had a different type
of edge when you all played. And I don't know
if that's the advent of college giving giving these stars
more attention, giving them more access, I don't know, but
(37:01):
just it just feels different, the love for it feels different. Yeah. Well, well, um,
I gotta go back to you know when the Teresa Edwards, um,
the you know, Medina Dixon's, you know, the the Debbie Lido's,
the you know the Yalanda Laneys. I mean, these are
(37:26):
those shoulders we stood on. We're still on their shoulders
and now you know, now this error of athletes in
the w n B A is standing on our shoulders. Um.
I do feel like there was a different grittiness, meaning
we we trimmed the fact, like there's no there was
(37:47):
no fact to us playing. I think now there's a
lot of fact to the w n B A in
that you're trying to outdo somebody, you're trying to I
mean they've worked on things that you know, coaches back
back in the day went allowed us to do that.
That was circus basketball, you know what I'm saying. So,
but they they work on those things, and I do
(38:10):
think some of them have to utilize, um, some less
traditional moves um to to outfox people because I do
think they're they're bigger and stronger. Now, yeah, they're bigger, stronger.
You don't think so, No, No, I agree, you're right.
I'm like, yeah, you're right. That's how I'm saying is though,
(38:31):
And I know I'm looking at it from fifty one
year old eyes, But when I was around the Olympic team,
anytime I go to a w NBA game, I do
often thing this is physical. I don't know if I could,
I don't don't know after it. They know. It's like
you sit in courtside, you like you know that, you know,
like you Okay, this is real. The girls get after it.
(38:53):
I'm with you, I agree, and they are big girl
like they are. But I was at game too, I
was like, these these things ain't fooling around, you know
what I mean? Like um, but I'm fragile now, So
I mean this is I have a hard time believing
that if we could, we could freeze time, we could
(39:13):
take this young lady and put her in today's league.
I still think you'd just back to basics, just fundamentals.
I think you, I think you would be right there.
I think I wouldn't even I don't even think my
heart will be in it for sure, for sure, for sure.
And maybe that's what I'm referring to because so and
I'm watching it differently. So I mean I don't and
(39:35):
it's hard I listen. I ain't play ball, so let
me shut up. But you like I like this, I
like I want all of this. I want you to
have all of this. I don''t get back on defense.
I don't want to hear nothing else. It's all of
it right here. But I mean, I don't know. In
my case, I'm just saying that for you, coach, Okay,
I have to ask you this because I know you
gotta go in a minute. Year one coach now coach
(40:00):
highest paid or you and Geno maybe tied. I don't know.
I'm not for sure, but I have the reports that
you're the highest paid basketball culture women's basketball. You're black woman.
The celebration is loud, and I know you here, but
you live on the humble like nabig deal. Yeah, yeah,
I'm good. How does that make you feel? Do you
(40:20):
understand this what is happening? Do you understand what you've done,
what you've been able to accomplish because you was folding
clothes and nineties. I just just you right here. You
don't want to talk to the people at the retail
store closed ninety two. Now you're the highest paid. I'm
I'm kicking it over them almost three million year to
create um an environment that nurtures women's sports. It's not
(40:45):
just for basketball, it's for women's sports in general. That's amazing. Yeah,
I mean, uh is a thing that my path truly
was divinely ordered. Like I am a believer that h
I found my calling. I listened to um where God
(41:09):
wanted me to go, because surely I didn't see myself
in Columbia, South Carolina like and it maybe Philly like
the Temple thing was a you know it was it
was a good match because I'm from Philly. But then
you know, once I left Philly and came to South Carolina,
I'm just like, I'm you know this this is yeah,
(41:33):
well I didn't think it fit, but as the years
went by, it fits. And then now I'm just gonna
tell you what spared me, the fight for what took
place on Friday, which was you know, a raise. It was, Um,
I wanted equal pay like I wanted. I wanted equal
(41:54):
pay and I never backed down from it because UM,
here I him. I'm writing letters. Um, I'm reading letters
to say to speak on all the inequities that happened
at in San Antonio at the n C Double A Tournament.
Like you know, I got it out. I had to
(42:16):
get it off my chest, and then I had to
you know, just move on and focus on our team.
And then it stayed with me when we got back,
Like how am I gonna be out here politicking and
fighting for um equality? Um? Nationally and then we we don't.
(42:37):
I don't even have it here. There's now it's not
been you know, discussion about it. So then I'm like, hell,
I'm going for it. Like I'm like, I'm going for it,
like this is what I want. Like and it took
it took a while for it to take place, but um,
you gotta stay the course when you want to do
something big. Now now now they offered me, um, you know,
(43:01):
a significant race. But then I'm like, hell, if you
can get this, you can. We're here, We're we're almost here.
Give me my money. But but but because it's not
about the money, it's about the principality smoking yes, but
but throughout the negotiations it was all about the money.
(43:24):
Like basically, you know, some of the stuff came out
like why you know why you think you should make
more than the football coach? I like, I don't. I don't.
I didn't pay the football coach, Like really, I didn't
wear football school as he sees a football conference. I wasn't.
That wasn't my My point. My point is, I do
(43:47):
I do what the mess basketball coach does. Um, we've
had sustained success here, We've been in the final fours,
we won a national championship. We've done basically all these things,
and and I had to look at like if you
look at and I don't want to talk about Frank
Martin in this way. I'm just gonna talk about the numbers.
(44:08):
And the numbers say, I've been here from um two
thousand and eight until now. He was here from I
don't know, two thousand and twelve until now. If you
add up his his um increases, is salary increases, you
add up mine, he's got more. So that number is
(44:33):
staggering to me. And I just felt like, now is
the time. But it's also you know, was I fighting
for me? Yes, but I was also fighting for a
bigger like this is much bigger than than me. This
is for black women, for white women, for corporate women, CEOs,
(44:55):
this is for teachers, this is for administrators, This is
for every woman that doesn't get a dollar on the
dollar she earned. And and I just felt like, you know,
and I don't. I didn't. I was doubtful. I was
really doubtful whether or not it was gonna get done.
(45:16):
But when it got done, it was well worth the negotiations.
It was well worth you know, the high pitched voices
that were you know, spewed out um because it was
not about me. It was more about everybody else. And
I just hope this creates a norm because this is unpopular.
(45:39):
It's unpopular for for South Carolina to do it um
and and it's you know, it's a microcosm of what's
happening out there in the world. So I hope it
moves from being an unpopular right thing to a popular
right thing and the norm. So I think it's I
think it's a pretty big deal. I think it's pretty
(46:00):
cool deal. And all these things were happening too. When
I just told somebody this is robbing Robberts that the
U l f G documentary that they had on CNN.
I watched it. I sat down and watched it, and
I'm just like, damnly, this is a damn shame that
this is happening to them when you know they've been
(46:21):
super successful. So I sat down, I watched it, I
took notes, and I'm just like, I'm I'm I'm here
for this reason, Like sometimes you need something tangible to say,
this is why you're here, Keep pushing, keep fighting, keep
this is what we need. We need groundbreaking. We went.
(46:42):
We need momentum heading into you know what I think
is a woman's movement. It's time for us to rise
up and to to risk it all. Because I did.
I risked. I risked it all. Like they could have said,
I'll get on out of here. We you know we're
not doing this out, dare you? Um? So you gotta
(47:03):
be able to risk it all and know that if
it doesn't turn out the way you wanted to, it
wasn't because you didn't bite. Let's normalize equal pay. How
about that. Let's normalize equal pay for hard working black
women and women all over. But let's just normalize equal pay.
(47:24):
It it's just so simple, like I like, not asking,
like equal pay, like racism, like it's such it's such
a simple thing to solve. Okay, I gotta let you go.
Last question number one preseason congratulations what we're looking like?
(47:45):
I mean, just so many wins, so many wins, and
I know I know what it feels like to be
the first and do so many things that people haven't
done before. And all it is is check check, check,
check check, and we keep moving. You back your back
and practice. You don't like I I need you to
take a moment to disenjoy this season. Let it be
two weeks, that would be a day. But it is
(48:07):
a beautiful thing to watch. It makes me so happy,
Like I'm so happy listening to you right now. Do
you understand like I am celebrating every one of your
wins because it's a win for us. It is a
win for the culture, it's a win for women. It
is a win, huge wins, and I'd like to see
us have some parody and normalize something different, especially in
(48:29):
women's basketball at the collegiate level. Number one, preseason, what
we're looking like, I mean, I probably, like everybody else, good, bad,
ugly at times, Like like I mean, we got a
good team, no doubt about it, very very talented um.
And we just started doing this this week and it
(48:50):
it's not fun, but we just started simulating what what
a game would be like in terms of seven institutions.
So some people aren't getting as many reps as they've gotten,
you know, for the two months that we've been together.
So you you'll hear a little bit of chirping, you
(49:11):
see a little bit of facial expressions, you'll feel see
a little bit of body language, and that's normal. You know,
I'm not gonna take that away from competitors, But I
told our players this year that we're all gonna have
to sacrifice UM and you gotta keep you gotta keep
um sending that message because again they lose sight because
(49:35):
they look within and say, hey, I'm not starting, I'm
not playing. So we gotta consistently, you know, give them
that message. And I asked them again, I'm a very beginning.
I was like a little bit different. You know, you
understand what we're They all said yes, I said, but
we only need what you do best, just this year,
(49:59):
just this year. We don't need your whole bag. We
know you gotta do We can do a lot of
things with that basketball, but we only need the thing
that you do best. And if you do that, things
are gonna start clearing up. If you try to muck
it up by looking at what this person does, which
is her best thing, but you want to add that
to what you already do, it's gonna mess things up.
(50:21):
So we have to constantly battle with our players to
see the big picture. And it's not gonna happen overnight,
but it's going to happen if we're if we just
like we have to drill how we're playing ball screens,
ball screen defense. We gotta drill it. We gotta drill
these things too, because you know it it's coming. We
(50:42):
play in you know, two weeks. Um, the parents are
gonna come to the games. They're gonna see there their
little girls expecting them to play. And we're gonna get
on the zoom call with the parents and we're gonna say, hey,
we're about to start. Your daughter may play some minutes,
no minutes, a lot of minutes. We don't know. Any
given day could change. So we need you, We need
(51:05):
you to be parents and support them. Don't don't ask
what you don't know, because you know, we've been in
the gym for two months and if you want to
count back to June, uh five, six months. So it
is what it is. So I think we do a
really good job of communicating, and we got a good team.
And whether we're the number one or number three, number six,
(51:29):
number eight, whatever it is, Um, we're gonna fight. We're
gonna not literally fight, We're gonna but maybe sometimes times
it happens. Um, coach, I know you have to go.
We only need you. I'm writing down with turn we
(51:50):
need you to do the thing you do best. I said,
that's how we want them to do. I am for you,
and I am so very very very very very excited
for you. No matter um what the season looks like,
we hope it's always a win. I went to U
C l A. So I gotta be careful what I
say because you know they'll be watching everything. Coach texting
me like Kerry, can I talk to you? I'd be like,
(52:11):
I just I can't. I get like coach, I didn't play.
I just I hadn't work in sports. I'm sorry, but
I I coach. I'm just I am so proud of
you and so excited for what's next in your journey.
You have really, truly, truly been a trailblazer and it's
not gonna notice. We need it. So thank you for it.
Thank you so. As this is being released this week
(52:33):
one of college basketball. Don did not know this, but
I intentionally moved this podcast up so that I could
praise her during this week. Her class currently is number
one preseason number one, Paul. That means nothing to her,
as she has talked about I will be very clear
here though, if just in case, you know, my coach
(52:56):
coach close at U c l A is listening. I
am bruin, but I'm very impressed by don so please
don't be mad at me. Side note, I'm looking forward
to see what she does, and I don't want to
hear anyone critiquing her if she doesn't have the season
that's some expect because she got paid. That money she
got paid that was already invested years ago. Yeah, I
(53:19):
had her at a bargain. All right, you got her
on the cheat, you finally pay her her worth. It
is back if you will. I don't wanna hear no
no crap talking. I do want to say though, when
I listened to the podcast, I thought it has to
be difficult. Two always feel like you have to do
(53:41):
and say the right thing when you're in such a
public position. College sports is very political, although people will
say it's not. College sports is very political sports and generalists,
but on the collegiate level there's an extra layer of
red tape that you have to deal with boosters, you know,
alumni parents. She meant is all of that. There's so
much going on, but she has been able to do
(54:04):
something that I think we all should learn to do.
Keep the main thing the main thing. I'm here to
coach these girls to play basketball so that they can
compete and move on and do whatever they want to
do that in line, whether that be go to the league,
whether that be find another career, maybe that be a coach,
whatever it may be. I'm here to do the main thing,
(54:26):
and I keep the main thing the main thing. Oftentimes
we get so caught up and ship that just don't
matter instead of just being right, instead of just doing
what we came to do, we get caught up and distracted,
and that's where we see all the pitfalls, all the problems.
(54:49):
So I thanked on for reminding me to keep the
main thing the main thing. Thanks for listening. That's the
main thing today. Kids Back next week, y'all. Mm hm
I wanted equal pay like I wanted. I wanted equal
pay and I never backed down from it because, um,
here I am. I'm writing letters. Um I'm reading letters
to say to speak on all the inequities that happened
at in San Antonio at the n C Double A Tournament.
(00:21):
Like you know, I got it out. I had to
get it off my chest and then I had to,
you know, just move on and focus on our team.
And then it stayed with me when we got back,
like I am I gonna be out here politicking and
fighting for equality nationally, and then we we don't. I
(00:43):
don't even have it here. It's now and it's not
been you know, discussion about it. So then I'm like, hell,
I'm going for it. Like for I'm like, I'm going
for it, Like this is what I was cashing in. Y'all.
We're talking about don Staley and her historic deal making
her the highest paid coach and women's college basketball. I'm
happy for She's joining us next on Naked Every Champion
(01:17):
and carry Champions to be a champion, the Champion and
carry Champion and carry Champion the Champion and carry Champion
and carry CHAPPI Raiers Raiders and Sports and entertainment can
naked weird in the world with vulnerable considered, we come
and remove the vail from entertainment elite. It's a difference
between with it's real and with the public seats. So
here's your favorite celebrities behind the scenes. It's refreshing up.
(01:39):
Then the whole story specific life ought to rend events
to shake the person that you hear. We gotta champion.
They carry champion, the girl you did it. It's the
greatest in sports and entertainment. Cannaked with every champion and
carry champions. To be a champion, the champion, they carry champion.
They girl champy down the champion. They carry champion and
carry champion. Raiders free and sports and entertainment and they Hey,
(02:01):
I'm so excited to have Don Staley on UM. I
told you she was cashing in, uh well deserved. By
way of background, Don Staley from Philly, and she was
very clear. Some people try to say that from Philly
and a from Philly, you gotta check the area. Coach.
She'll get into that because she's from Philly and she's
unapologetic about whom she is or how she moves. And
(02:22):
I love that about her. Just recently, you may have
read that she signed a huge deal with the University
of South Carolina as the head women's basketball coach. She
is now looking at a historic contract seven years, two
point four million dollars, making about a little a little
under three million a year. That's two point nine It
(02:42):
was a huge pay day for her, putting her up
there with the big boys, and it's well deserved. She's
already won a chip there. But she's a four time Olympian,
She's a hard worker, and she really does defined to
me what it means to be a coach. Don Staley says,
I meet my players where they are, and from that
moment on, I hate them to where they want to go.
She said she was taught that way when she was
(03:04):
playing college basketball at the University of Virginia, and she
wanted to be um similar to who raised her, if
you will, and I respect that because you see, there
are people in your life oftentimes who really make a
huge impact. And for her it was her basketball coach
and all done ever wanted to do. And she'll tell
(03:25):
you this on the podcast is Just play Ball. At
the time in which she graduated from college, there was
no w N b a so don I want to
go work at a retail store. Can you imagine loving
something so much? But there is no way you can
do what you love because there's no professional league. And
I think we take the w NBA for granted now
(03:45):
because we didn't realize that it's only been around for
twenty five years, like there was a life in which
there was no women's basketball. If you love this, good
for you? How do you stay in the game. You'd
be a coach. You may be able to play overseas,
you work hard to be an Olympian, but that is it. Well,
she's done all of the above. She played overseas, she's
(04:07):
a four time Olympian, and she is now arguably the
highest paid coach in women's college basketball. And I am impressed.
Her story is impressive. I am impressed, and her story
is impressive. Sit back, relax, and enjoy this edition y'all
of Naked with South Carolina's Don Staying and carp and
(04:29):
I have so many, so much to congratulate you on
and just I'm personally just happy that you're here. Um
from Afar. I you know, while working at ESPN and
covering sports, I just always admired everything about who you are.
So I've always had a hardcore crush like she's but
you seem like you no nonsense. I was like, goofy,
(04:49):
asked if I met her, she'd be like, all right,
coming down, you know what I mean? So welcome to Naked,
where we talk about any and everything, and the goal
is is just to find out how these extraordinary people
become so extraordinary. But usually they don't know that they're extraordinary.
They're just real humble. So I'm reading about you and
how you grew up um Philly. Take me there. Tell
(05:14):
me about a young Don Stalely before she ran the world. Philly,
specifically North Philly. Like, when you're from Philly, to be clear,
you gotta be clear where you're from because everyone that
says they're from Philly don't have a two one five
or two six seven in front of their phone number.
(05:35):
So if you got something other than that, then you're
from outside of Philly. But I'm from North Philly. I
grew up in the in the housing projects called the
Raymond Rosen Housing Projects. And if I can give you
a visual, it is um row homes that are in
this circular form uh within within the row homes is
(06:02):
a big field. I mean it's a huge field that
had a basketball court, a baseball court, and a baseball field,
a softball field. Um. And then we made we made
a track just with like sometimes it was chalk, sometimes
it was you know, borrow paint. Um. But if you
(06:24):
can imagine, we just had a a project Olympics because
we had all this this space. Um. We didn't always
have all the equipment to um to actually play all
the sports, but we made it work. UM. I grew
up in the household of it was seven of us,
(06:47):
you know, I had had a mom and dad and
for my older siblings, I'm the youngest. UM. And if
you've grown up in the projects, there's a thing called
hand me downs. You know, the everything, the clothes, Um,
it's hand me down, and very very often you you
(07:11):
don't get your own clothes, you don't get your something
that you call your own. You're sharing the room with
I shared the room with my sister, My three brothers
shared the room. My parents had a room and that
was it. And then we fought, uh to get to
the bathroom. Um. You got brothers who and we didn't
have a shower back then. We had to take a bath.
(07:31):
Like it wasn't like it was a bath. You gotta
run the water, you know, in the projects, you run
out of hot water, so you try to fight to
get the first be the first one to take a bath. Um.
So it was very very remember sometimes right right, So
it was it was super competitive. Um. All of my
(07:55):
siblings except my sister could play a sport. So it
was it was a knockout, dragout. But all the sports
for us started inside our house. Like, um, we had
this in the projects. You had a you know the event,
you know, the the growing up in the project. You
had good heat though you had like great you had
(08:19):
to turn the heat off in the winter because it
was that hot. But we used to ball up alumni
foil and we would shoot jumpers on it was a
little lip. It was probably i would say no more
than three inches from why and probably three inches from
(08:40):
the ceiling, and we would shoot jumpers on it. We
would dunking each other, you know, you would you would
cut your you know, your fingers trying to dunk on
your your sibling. But I would say it was just
a an incredible, super competitive um household that once you
went outside of our household. Uh, it was easy for
(09:01):
you to just compete with anybody that was um within
the confines of of our neighborhood. M hm. So you
grow up being a competitor. Everyone knows you are a
die hard competitor. It starts in the household. That's that,
there's the essence of who you are. Um, and everyone,
(09:21):
I think not everyone, but they mentioned height. They always
talk about height, and despite being this tall, she was
able to do that. When people say that, or when
they said that when you were younger, how how did
that make you feel? Um? I mean, obviously I I
wasn't always short like I mean, I forgot. I was
average height when I was growing up, and then everybody
(09:45):
else sprung up, you know, as as they got older.
I was the only one that pretty much stayed the
same height. So, you know, as I'm growing up and
as I'm staying at the same height, they did say that.
They did say, you know you you can't play for
for us. It was the big boy court, like, it
was the big guys playing, the top neighborhood guys playing
(10:08):
on the court. So they they the gout. The the
big guys thought of me as just a little girl.
Like this is too rough for you. You know you
you won't be able to play with us. Maybe you
could play stick around and play after Um. So the
height thing that didn't bother me. It was the fact
(10:31):
that they said, um, I couldn't play on the big
boy court. Um, because they looked at me like the
little girl. UM. But if you looked inside, I was
super competitive. I was you know, I was tough. Like
there wasn't anything that you couldn't do to me on
a basketball court that would shake my equilibrium. Nothing like
(10:52):
you you can set a hard pick, I'll set a
hard pick on you. Um, you can trip me, you can.
As long as it was in a of finds of
the court, I didn't really feel any pain. It was
just it was just what we do in the projects.
It was just how we played in the projects. So
the height wasn't I didn't look at my height as
(11:14):
a disadvantage. I looked at the fact that maybe my
skill set didn't didn't stack up to playing on the
big court, big boy court. It was it was never.
It was never like I was too short. It was
more of you know, I took it as and maybe
I just blocked it out because I didn't want it
to be because of my height, because I couldn't do
(11:35):
anything about my height, but I surely could home my
skills to pass, be a better passer, to be a
better shooter, to be a better decision maker. And that's
what I concentrated on until you know that that blessed
up day to where I wanted the first people that
they picked to play on the big boy court. Yeah, yeah, okay,
(11:59):
I love it. So I was gonna ask had so
many questions from that. What are the ingredients to be
so fearless that you have? Is that a mixture of
growing up? Is that is how you what your parents
taught you, what you saw your neighborhood. What makes you
so fearless? Also where you have no awareness of pain,
(12:22):
like not nothing bothered you. Um, I mean I'm the
youngest of five, Um, so I I used to fight
my older brothers. My oldest brother who we share birthday,
I can't have anything to myself. Um he's eight years
older than me. Um, My recently deceased brother was seven
(12:43):
years older than me, My sisters six years older than me.
And then I got another brother that's two years older
than me. So I had the most difficult time with
my oldest brother, who we all considered a bully. He
was a bully before bullying was popular. He was a
bully like forty five years ago. Um right, So there
(13:09):
wasn't even a name for that back then. Besides being
an older sibling that tried that tried to um. I mean,
he just tried to dish out chores. I mean things
that my my mom told him to do. He tried
to I know that, Yeah, no, I'm not doing this.
(13:29):
So he would try to make me do it, and
I'm just like, no, I'm not doing it. I don't
you can. We called it muggy like. He would take
my take his hand and kind of push my face
back and mug me. He would do all these things
to me, But I still I wasn't going to clean
the bathroom because that's your job. So I think I
got my toughness from being in a house hold full
(13:52):
of testosterone and and and a and a bully mentality
and my and my older brother. And I just think
that that's helped me be fearless. It helped me when
I got out side of my home that I've already
seen the worst of the worst in my household. So
you know, anybody else is not gonna do anything that's
(14:13):
gonna hurt me. You're gonna hurt my feelings, You're not
gonna physically hurt me because I can. I can take
you know, I can take pain. You you know, one thing.
And growing up in in Philly, um, we we see crying,
complaining as a weakness and people will take advantage of
(14:36):
that very thing if they feel like they can get
under your skin and they can want up you in
some type of way. And I just felt like, you know,
it prepared me for whatever life through at me. And
I think it helped me just mentally be stronger because
physically you can't hurt um. But if if your mind
(14:59):
is stronger than that pain, then it's just pain and
nothing else besides pain, and pain is temporary. Every every athlete,
every every coulch, every person I talked to, it's always
the same thing. You gotta have amnesia. You gotta be
mentally tough. That that that that accounts for so much
of whatever sport you're in the game. When you take
(15:21):
this mentality to college, you go in and you have
this reputation of being who you are and and and
good at what you do, Um, what adjustments do you
think you have to make? And I'm not even talking
about on the court. I'm just talking about it in life,
dealing with other people more at tension than you've ever had,
perhaps a different environment in terms of interacting with folks
(15:42):
because they know you're special. I would say that mentality
doesn't always work in every you know, in every arena,
so to speak. You know, I went, I went to
probably wanted to, you know, the whitest, most privileged universes.
You did, So that's something like, so, how you going there?
You up? I'm from North Philly turned seven? Yes, so so,
(16:08):
And I didn't know. I didn't know I was. I
was me like, you know, if you're from Philly, you're
gonna be you more times than not. People are gonna
have to pivot and adjust to you versus you to them. Um.
And especially when you know, for me, when it came
to sports, Um, I was known for that. But I
(16:33):
didn't know there was a world outside of sports. Really,
I didn't like, I didn't know, like I don't want
back then, I didn't even like talking to people like,
I didn't I was shy. Um. I expressed myself through
playing sports. But I'm gonna I'm gonna be honest with you.
I found myself an academic um trouble my first year
(16:56):
at Virginia. And when you aren't good at something, you
invite other people into your life that you don't necessarily
want in your life. It's extra. Conversations for me is extra.
And I'm gonna just say it's you know, this is
(17:17):
what the dean told me. Because I had to sit
down and talk to the dean, I had to you know,
I didn't know anything. I didn't give her eye contact,
I didn't um, you know, I didn't you know, pronounce
my words. I was very, very uncomfortable. You're having a
conversation with the dean of a of a school that's
gonna determine whether or not I get to stay or
(17:39):
or leave. So I wasn't savvy enough and I wasn't
sophisticated enough to know. So I did what I would
normally do, is I shut down, and you know, and
I'm like, do what you gotta do, what you gotta do,
um and I and I look back on that and
I'm just like, that was the wrong thing to do.
(17:59):
But chief said, she said, you know, she said sometimes
you're gonna have to conform to your environment. And maybe
you know, I didn't know what that were meant at
the time because I was just like, you know, I
I'm not I'm not kissing anybody's ass. You know this,
(18:21):
This is who I am. I mean, I'm just dumb.
I mean really just ain't aware of nothing. But I'm Philly.
I'm North Philly. What what you mean? I gotta conform.
I'm not gonna bow down to anybody. I'm gonna beat me.
I'm gonna be This was in my bubble because I
really wasn't saying this. It was you could tell by
the look of my face that I'm just like um.
(18:44):
But when when you're talking about separating like me from
the very thing that I love, which is basketball, um,
you learn, you learn to grow up a little bit quicker. UM.
I was grateful to have a coach to explain that
part to me and help me understand how to deal
(19:05):
in those type of situations. So DeBie Ryan had to
go back to the Dean and just basically give some
background or who I am as a person and and
how I operate. Um, Because if if you don't have
that person, it's a you know it's a Debbie was
(19:26):
like a sponsor to me. She was a sponsor. UM
one that is was well respected, um on on the
grounds we call them grounds, we don't say campus on grounds.
She's well respected, and UM if she wasn't, then I
would have been, you know, one of those statistics that
had to leave u v A and go on and
somewhere else and start over. And UM, who knows if
(19:50):
that would have been the thing that develed me from
um being successful in my life. UM. But you do
have to conform. You do have to learn, you have
to learn how to of it. You you you have to
you know, you gotta do things for your own good.
You gotta get out of your way so you can
so you can be successful. And those interactions at u
(20:12):
v A really helped me, probably more so in my
This is my twenty second year coaching, but those first
eight those are the kinds of pivoting that I've had
to do, uh with my players to have a really
good understanding of what their needs are. And I have
(20:34):
to be a good resource for them because somebody was
just that for me. Did you realize, see there's a
difference between and and there's so many buzzwords now everyone
uses awareness and self care and all the other words
that you be here. Did you realize while you were
at u v A that coach was doing that for you,
(20:56):
that she was helping you learn to conform and pivot.
You understand that that was going to be necessary for
you to succeed? Then not now? Then no, no, I
mean because a lot of that happened, um out of earshot, um.
(21:16):
But but for me, I'm smart enough to just know
that my performance in front of that dean was not
what did not put me in the position of um
giving me a second chance. So something had to happen
in order for me to be where I am, and
(21:39):
all of my communications were we're with my coach. So
I just put two and two together that Hey, this
is this is DEBI working. This isn't this isn't me,
This isn't you know, being a star basketball player. This
is an adult who really understands the big picture and
(22:00):
and someone that knows that if you take basketball away
from this this young lady, um, she's going back to
the projects. Um, and we we really don't want herds.
We don't want that outcome. That's beautiful. I'm writing it down.
That's beautiful. How do you feel about coach now? I
(22:21):
love I love Debbie Ryan. I love like Debbie Ryan
was a coach. Who Um, I mean I I was
pretty special coming out of high school. Like I was,
I was a good player. Um. But when you when
you coach a good player, you can you can coach
(22:43):
that player with handcuffs on. You can, you know you can.
You can give a short leash and just let in
my case, just let her go just a little bit
and pull her back, or you take all of her.
You let her be creative, and then you teach her
(23:04):
as she's making mistakes along the way. Um, and then
you allow her to figure it out. And I call
that meeting me where I was, to take me where
I need to go. And that's who I am as
a coach. That's that's if if I had to put
that in a nutshell is I'm really good at meeting
(23:26):
people where they are. I don't try to change them,
I don't try to know. I meet you where you
are and I help you with where you're trying to go.
And that that takes communication. I gotta know where you
want to go your words, not my words, your words.
So if you want to go to the league, if
you wanna, if you want to be a doctor, um,
(23:47):
if you want to be a coach, I'm gonna meet
you where you are and I'm gonna guide you through
what the pitfalls of life, UM, and I'm gonna embrace
you through the you know, the good times. I mean
(24:07):
it is you know, pushing and pulling. It is UM
getting young people to realize the big picture, because sometimes
they lose sight of that, and then sometimes they're only
focused on the big picture that they lose sight of
the the details that's needed in front of them. The
way you describe that visually for me, meeting people where
(24:27):
they are pitfalls, ups and downs, but meeting them where
they are and taking them where they want to be
very much illustrates what I think your career was, right,
because there was no w n b A when you
when you graduated and you played overseas and then you
joined the league. The w n b A was yere one, right?
Am I wrong? Do I have the document? Three? You're three?
(24:48):
H How would you describe that time? Because basketball was
all you know? You said you loved it so much,
so you were playing any any and everywhere. How would
you describe that time for you when there wasn't quote
unquote a profession no option here in the States? Right? Hard?
That was? That was probably the hardest. And you have
to you have to think in when I graduated from Virginia,
(25:10):
I was college player of the year, UM. When UM.
During that same year, Larry Johnson Grandmama was was the
college play of the year. He signed an eighty million
dollar contract. I signed And it wasn't right. It wasn't
(25:31):
right after college like basketball season that started probably in September.
So I'm home. I'm home with a with a retail job,
and I wasn't very good at it, Like I wasn't
like some things are meant for people and some things
(25:52):
aren't me. Working in retail was not for me because
I didn't like to interact with people. I didn't like
to talk to people. So we had customers, I would go,
I would go far away from them, and I love
folding clothes. I would I would I would fold close.
I would just make myself busy. Um. And then probably
six weeks after that season started, I had to replace
(26:15):
a guard in Segovia, Spain. So I signed a thirty
five thousand dollar contract the goal play in Segovia, Spain.
And when I got there, I mean, I was happy
obviously to do the thing that I love. But when
I got there, it was a lot different than college,
(26:36):
because college, you know, your day is pretty much you know, uh,
schedules for you, um what overseas you you practice maybe
once or twice a day, and then you know you're
on your own. And I've never been like on my
own like that, having a fend for myself, having to
go to the grocery store and buy food to cook. Um.
(26:59):
And then the basketball wasn't but I was anticipating. I
was thought I was going to the pros. So there
were certain things that will already be in place, and
I was gonna be in the place of continuing to
learn um. But it was a lot different back then
because if you were the American or the foreigner, you
(27:20):
were expected to score, you know, fifty fifty points, and
if you didn't win and you didn't score those points,
they really put the blame on you. They don't mind
saying it's your fault. This is what we're paying you
to come here to help us win. So it was
and it was like imitating. It was like imitating the
(27:41):
the NBA, And I was just used to playing basketball
as like you know, in college, you're playing as a team,
you're moving the ball with you. You know, everybody gets
to touch the ball when it was the direct opposite,
like you put the ball into the super superstars hands
and you you gotta you gotta perform magic. Um. But
(28:04):
I was super happy that I had an outlet to
continue to play. So, I mean, I lived out of
a suitcase. But I surely just and enjoyed playing. Um,
I didn't enjoy because back then you didn't have you know,
you didn't have WiFi, you had a land line. So
(28:28):
my people, yeah, so my my, my telephone bills were
like two grando months back. Your check, your check, yeah, yes,
all my money goes through my phone. Yeah, I get it. Yea.
On the other side of the break, we hear more
(28:49):
from don Staley and how she was able to do
all these wonderful things that she just says so dismissively,
like it's not a big deal, but she's a superstar.
But more importantly, eat him. In the every champion and
carry champion has to be a champion, a champion and
carry chappion and carry champion, a champion and carry chappion
and carry Chappion sports. And then the Taming can naked work.
(29:14):
Every champion and carry chappion is to be a champion,
a champion, they carry champion, they champion, they carry Champion,
they carry Champion sports, and the the Taming can naked war.
All right, you guys, we talked about it, Don Staley
giving us that truth with an app are naked. Here's more.
(29:36):
But first of all, you go from because I think
people who are listening can't understand, you go from being
the number one college player in that same year, your
male counterpart town signs an eight million dollar deal and
you folting clothes, and then you go overseas because that's
the only way where you can at least do what
(29:56):
you love. UM and your homesick and they're all these
other options is to love hate relationship, to do what
you have to do. You imagine if I had to
pick up and leave and move to another country so
I could just do what I gotta do, which to
me is mind blowing now like the thought of that,
but it also talks about your commitment. Walk me through
how you decided to be in the w n B
(30:18):
A or ended up playing in the w n B
A and leaving overseas and what that experience was like. Well,
the main reason why I went overseas was because I
wanted to be an Olympian UM. And when I tried
out for the Olympic team, I got cut um and
the two things that they said, Well, the reasons why
(30:40):
I got cut was one, I was too short, and
there's that short thing again. And I didn't have enough
international experience. So that's why I went overseas to play
to get myself ready for the that next Olympic Games,
which was ninety six. So I'm in overseason in ninety two,
(31:02):
ninety three, and ninety four and then that that following year,
like I went ninety four to ninety five, but I
came home a little bit early because I was a
little banged up over there and I wanted to just
kind of heal up so I can participate in the
Olympic trials. Um. So it is I mean, you you
(31:26):
have to be committed if you have goals, and you
have to understand. When I was growing up in the projects,
only saw women playing in two events. One was the
national championship. So I wanted to be a national champion
and two was in the Olympics, so I wanted to
be an Olympian and the gold medalist. So those were
(31:48):
and I didn't even think about a w n B
A I mean, and I knew the NBA was out,
So yeah, those two things just held my tension and
they made me super committed to that. And little did
I know, just from being involved in the nineties Olympic team,
(32:13):
two two women's basketball pro leagues, we're gonna be birthed
out of our experience, UM I had. I chose to
stay with the a b L because all of us
UM didn't know that there was gonna be a w
NBA league. So we committed to playing in the a
b L. So I did that for two years and
(32:33):
then I just felt like my body wouldn't be able
to take me playing year round like doing the traditional
basketball season. So I decided after two years to take
my talents to the w n B A uh, and
(32:53):
there we were talking victory. I we did a uh
think about the year of the the Olympic, year of
the woman I thought was and we did this whole
talk about all the different things that came from the Olympics.
And you're speaking of that now, um, And how would
you know? You wouldn't know, but you still have had
the opportunity to do both. I I feel like the
(33:19):
w n B A then versus now has has changed dramatically. Um.
I feel like this year, you give me your take
on it. This year there was more buzz around the finals,
I believe than ever before. More people are paying attention
where you know, the marketing feels better, it feels like
there is some value there. How would you view the
(33:41):
league when you play to now? Well, when I play,
the league was just you know, three years old, three too.
I think I played five or six years so three
to nine, it was under ten years old. Um. But
(34:01):
and I and I thought I thought it was talent field.
Back then, I thought it was super talented. And especially yeah,
especially yes when the A b L folded and all
those players had to come into w n B A,
it was top to bottom load packed packed, um. And
(34:26):
then if you fast forward, you know, fifteen sixteen years
from there. Um. As far as talent, I think the
talents up and the talents up because we've had twenty
five years of all of those those players that are
planning in the w n b A. Now they only
(34:46):
knew of a w n b A like their their
their lifespan was really only of having a women's professional
league here in the States. So they had something to
really work hard for. They have goals, so they're gonna
do everything they need that they need to do to
give themselves a chance to play in the league. Um,
(35:08):
and to do that, you gotta be really good. And
whilst you're gonna be, you're gonna be left behind. And
that makes it, you know, I mean if you pour
into anything like you know people who have poured into
the w n b A right, and the novelty has
worn off. And I thought for a while, um it
(35:32):
plants towed. But I think now we're we're coming back.
Like I think, this is this is time for women
like women in sports, this is this is our time,
Like we have to strike when the iron is hot
so we can get to another another fiftieth year, twenty
five more years. And I do think, I do think
(35:55):
you'll have a million dollar player, a multi million dollar
player in the in the near future. I do. Um,
you always try to compare UM leagues, you know. You you
you go back to the NBA, their first twenty five
years M. I don't know if there were a millionaires
(36:16):
then I say that now I say that now all
the time. I'm like, I'm not. I don't know, but
but but what I what I do know, and I
hope I'm not like how people romanticize what it used
to be like. But I do know if I feel
like if you sit it up and swoops even Lisa,
like y'all can take these girls like if this was
(36:38):
it was the talent then versus the talent now right,
there's a lot of talent, But I felt like it
was more gritty. I felt like it was more you
know what I'm saying, Like y'all had a different type
of edge when you all played. And I don't know
if that's the advent of college giving giving these stars
more attention, giving them more access, I don't know, but
(37:01):
just it just feels different, the love for it feels different. Yeah. Well, well, um,
I gotta go back to you know when the Teresa Edwards, um,
the you know, Medina Dixon's, you know, the the Debbie Lido's,
the you know the Yalanda Laneys. I mean, these are
(37:26):
those shoulders we stood on. We're still on their shoulders
and now you know, now this error of athletes in
the w n B A is standing on our shoulders. Um.
I do feel like there was a different grittiness, meaning
we we trimmed the fact, like there's no there was
(37:47):
no fact to us playing. I think now there's a
lot of fact to the w n B A in
that you're trying to outdo somebody, you're trying to I
mean they've worked on things that you know, coaches back
back in the day went allowed us to do that.
That was circus basketball, you know what I'm saying. So,
but they they work on those things, and I do
(38:10):
think some of them have to utilize, um, some less
traditional moves um to to outfox people because I do
think they're they're bigger and stronger. Now, yeah, they're bigger, stronger.
You don't think so, No, No, I agree, you're right.
I'm like, yeah, you're right. That's how I'm saying is though,
(38:31):
And I know I'm looking at it from fifty one
year old eyes, But when I was around the Olympic team,
anytime I go to a w NBA game, I do
often thing this is physical. I don't know if I could,
I don't don't know after it. They know. It's like
you sit in courtside, you like you know that, you know,
like you Okay, this is real. The girls get after it.
(38:53):
I'm with you, I agree, and they are big girl
like they are. But I was at game too, I
was like, these these things ain't fooling around, you know
what I mean? Like um, but I'm fragile now, So
I mean this is I have a hard time believing
that if we could, we could freeze time, we could
(39:13):
take this young lady and put her in today's league.
I still think you'd just back to basics, just fundamentals.
I think you, I think you would be right there.
I think I wouldn't even I don't even think my
heart will be in it for sure, for sure, for sure.
And maybe that's what I'm referring to because so and
I'm watching it differently. So I mean I don't and
(39:35):
it's hard I listen. I ain't play ball, so let
me shut up. But you like I like this, I
like I want all of this. I want you to
have all of this. I don''t get back on defense.
I don't want to hear nothing else. It's all of
it right here. But I mean, I don't know. In
my case, I'm just saying that for you, coach, Okay,
I have to ask you this because I know you
gotta go in a minute. Year one coach now coach
(40:00):
highest paid or you and Geno maybe tied. I don't know.
I'm not for sure, but I have the reports that
you're the highest paid basketball culture women's basketball. You're black woman.
The celebration is loud, and I know you here, but
you live on the humble like nabig deal. Yeah, yeah,
I'm good. How does that make you feel? Do you
(40:20):
understand this what is happening? Do you understand what you've done,
what you've been able to accomplish because you was folding
clothes and nineties. I just just you right here. You
don't want to talk to the people at the retail
store closed ninety two. Now you're the highest paid. I'm
I'm kicking it over them almost three million year to
create um an environment that nurtures women's sports. It's not
(40:45):
just for basketball, it's for women's sports in general. That's amazing. Yeah,
I mean, uh is a thing that my path truly
was divinely ordered. Like I am a believer that h
I found my calling. I listened to um where God
(41:09):
wanted me to go, because surely I didn't see myself
in Columbia, South Carolina like and it maybe Philly like
the Temple thing was a you know it was it
was a good match because I'm from Philly. But then
you know, once I left Philly and came to South Carolina,
I'm just like, I'm you know this this is yeah,
(41:33):
well I didn't think it fit, but as the years
went by, it fits. And then now I'm just gonna
tell you what spared me, the fight for what took
place on Friday, which was you know, a raise. It was, Um,
I wanted equal pay like I wanted. I wanted equal
(41:54):
pay and I never backed down from it because UM,
here I him. I'm writing letters. Um, I'm reading letters
to say to speak on all the inequities that happened
at in San Antonio at the n C Double A Tournament.
Like you know, I got it out. I had to
(42:16):
get it off my chest, and then I had to
you know, just move on and focus on our team.
And then it stayed with me when we got back,
Like how am I gonna be out here politicking and
fighting for um equality? Um? Nationally and then we we don't.
(42:37):
I don't even have it here. There's now it's not
been you know, discussion about it. So then I'm like, hell,
I'm going for it. Like I'm like, I'm going for it,
like this is what I want. Like and it took
it took a while for it to take place, but um,
you gotta stay the course when you want to do
something big. Now now now they offered me, um, you know,
(43:01):
a significant race. But then I'm like, hell, if you
can get this, you can. We're here, We're we're almost here.
Give me my money. But but but because it's not
about the money, it's about the principality smoking yes, but
but throughout the negotiations it was all about the money.
(43:24):
Like basically, you know, some of the stuff came out
like why you know why you think you should make
more than the football coach? I like, I don't. I don't.
I didn't pay the football coach, Like really, I didn't
wear football school as he sees a football conference. I wasn't.
That wasn't my My point. My point is, I do
(43:47):
I do what the mess basketball coach does. Um, we've
had sustained success here, We've been in the final fours,
we won a national championship. We've done basically all these things,
and and I had to look at like if you
look at and I don't want to talk about Frank
Martin in this way. I'm just gonna talk about the numbers.
(44:08):
And the numbers say, I've been here from um two
thousand and eight until now. He was here from I
don't know, two thousand and twelve until now. If you
add up his his um increases, is salary increases, you
add up mine, he's got more. So that number is
(44:33):
staggering to me. And I just felt like, now is
the time. But it's also you know, was I fighting
for me? Yes, but I was also fighting for a
bigger like this is much bigger than than me. This
is for black women, for white women, for corporate women, CEOs,
(44:55):
this is for teachers, this is for administrators, This is
for every woman that doesn't get a dollar on the
dollar she earned. And and I just felt like, you know,
and I don't. I didn't. I was doubtful. I was
really doubtful whether or not it was gonna get done.
(45:16):
But when it got done, it was well worth the negotiations.
It was well worth you know, the high pitched voices
that were you know, spewed out um because it was
not about me. It was more about everybody else. And
I just hope this creates a norm because this is unpopular.
(45:39):
It's unpopular for for South Carolina to do it um
and and it's you know, it's a microcosm of what's
happening out there in the world. So I hope it
moves from being an unpopular right thing to a popular
right thing and the norm. So I think it's I
think it's a pretty big deal. I think it's pretty
(46:00):
cool deal. And all these things were happening too. When
I just told somebody this is robbing Robberts that the
U l f G documentary that they had on CNN.
I watched it. I sat down and watched it, and
I'm just like, damnly, this is a damn shame that
this is happening to them when you know they've been
(46:21):
super successful. So I sat down, I watched it, I
took notes, and I'm just like, I'm I'm I'm here
for this reason, Like sometimes you need something tangible to say,
this is why you're here, Keep pushing, keep fighting, keep
this is what we need. We need groundbreaking. We went.
(46:42):
We need momentum heading into you know what I think
is a woman's movement. It's time for us to rise
up and to to risk it all. Because I did.
I risked. I risked it all. Like they could have said,
I'll get on out of here. We you know we're
not doing this out, dare you? Um? So you gotta
(47:03):
be able to risk it all and know that if
it doesn't turn out the way you wanted to, it
wasn't because you didn't bite. Let's normalize equal pay. How
about that. Let's normalize equal pay for hard working black
women and women all over. But let's just normalize equal pay.
(47:24):
It it's just so simple, like I like, not asking,
like equal pay, like racism, like it's such it's such
a simple thing to solve. Okay, I gotta let you go.
Last question number one preseason congratulations what we're looking like?
(47:45):
I mean, just so many wins, so many wins, and
I know I know what it feels like to be
the first and do so many things that people haven't
done before. And all it is is check check, check,
check check, and we keep moving. You back your back
and practice. You don't like I I need you to
take a moment to disenjoy this season. Let it be
two weeks, that would be a day. But it is
(48:07):
a beautiful thing to watch. It makes me so happy,
Like I'm so happy listening to you right now. Do
you understand like I am celebrating every one of your
wins because it's a win for us. It is a
win for the culture, it's a win for women. It
is a win, huge wins, and I'd like to see
us have some parody and normalize something different, especially in
(48:29):
women's basketball at the collegiate level. Number one, preseason, what
we're looking like, I mean, I probably, like everybody else, good, bad,
ugly at times, Like like I mean, we got a
good team, no doubt about it, very very talented um.
And we just started doing this this week and it
(48:50):
it's not fun, but we just started simulating what what
a game would be like in terms of seven institutions.
So some people aren't getting as many reps as they've gotten,
you know, for the two months that we've been together.
So you you'll hear a little bit of chirping, you
(49:11):
see a little bit of facial expressions, you'll feel see
a little bit of body language, and that's normal. You know,
I'm not gonna take that away from competitors, But I
told our players this year that we're all gonna have
to sacrifice UM and you gotta keep you gotta keep
um sending that message because again they lose sight because
(49:35):
they look within and say, hey, I'm not starting, I'm
not playing. So we gotta consistently, you know, give them
that message. And I asked them again, I'm a very beginning.
I was like a little bit different. You know, you
understand what we're They all said yes, I said, but
we only need what you do best, just this year,
(49:59):
just this year. We don't need your whole bag. We
know you gotta do We can do a lot of
things with that basketball, but we only need the thing
that you do best. And if you do that, things
are gonna start clearing up. If you try to muck
it up by looking at what this person does, which
is her best thing, but you want to add that
to what you already do, it's gonna mess things up.
(50:21):
So we have to constantly battle with our players to
see the big picture. And it's not gonna happen overnight,
but it's going to happen if we're if we just
like we have to drill how we're playing ball screens,
ball screen defense. We gotta drill it. We gotta drill
these things too, because you know it it's coming. We
(50:42):
play in you know, two weeks. Um, the parents are
gonna come to the games. They're gonna see there their
little girls expecting them to play. And we're gonna get
on the zoom call with the parents and we're gonna say, hey,
we're about to start. Your daughter may play some minutes,
no minutes, a lot of minutes. We don't know. Any
given day could change. So we need you, We need
(51:05):
you to be parents and support them. Don't don't ask
what you don't know, because you know, we've been in
the gym for two months and if you want to
count back to June, uh five, six months. So it
is what it is. So I think we do a
really good job of communicating, and we got a good team.
And whether we're the number one or number three, number six,
(51:29):
number eight, whatever it is, Um, we're gonna fight. We're
gonna not literally fight, We're gonna but maybe sometimes times
it happens. Um, coach, I know you have to go.
We only need you. I'm writing down with turn we
(51:50):
need you to do the thing you do best. I said,
that's how we want them to do. I am for you,
and I am so very very very very very excited
for you. No matter um what the season looks like,
we hope it's always a win. I went to U
C l A. So I gotta be careful what I
say because you know they'll be watching everything. Coach texting
me like Kerry, can I talk to you? I'd be like,
(52:11):
I just I can't. I get like coach, I didn't play.
I just I hadn't work in sports. I'm sorry, but
I I coach. I'm just I am so proud of
you and so excited for what's next in your journey.
You have really, truly, truly been a trailblazer and it's
not gonna notice. We need it. So thank you for it.
Thank you so. As this is being released this week
(52:33):
one of college basketball. Don did not know this, but
I intentionally moved this podcast up so that I could
praise her during this week. Her class currently is number
one preseason number one, Paul. That means nothing to her,
as she has talked about I will be very clear
here though, if just in case, you know, my coach
(52:56):
coach close at U c l A is listening. I
am bruin, but I'm very impressed by don so please
don't be mad at me. Side note, I'm looking forward
to see what she does, and I don't want to
hear anyone critiquing her if she doesn't have the season
that's some expect because she got paid. That money she
got paid that was already invested years ago. Yeah, I
(53:19):
had her at a bargain. All right, you got her
on the cheat, you finally pay her her worth. It
is back if you will. I don't wanna hear no
no crap talking. I do want to say though, when
I listened to the podcast, I thought it has to
be difficult. Two always feel like you have to do
(53:41):
and say the right thing when you're in such a
public position. College sports is very political, although people will
say it's not. College sports is very political sports and generalists,
but on the collegiate level there's an extra layer of
red tape that you have to deal with boosters, you know,
alumni parents. She meant is all of that. There's so
much going on, but she has been able to do
(54:04):
something that I think we all should learn to do.
Keep the main thing the main thing. I'm here to
coach these girls to play basketball so that they can
compete and move on and do whatever they want to
do that in line, whether that be go to the league,
whether that be find another career, maybe that be a coach,
whatever it may be. I'm here to do the main thing,
(54:26):
and I keep the main thing the main thing. Oftentimes
we get so caught up and ship that just don't
matter instead of just being right, instead of just doing
what we came to do, we get caught up and distracted,
and that's where we see all the pitfalls, all the problems.
(54:49):
So I thanked on for reminding me to keep the
main thing the main thing. Thanks for listening. That's the
main thing today. Kids Back next week, y'all. Mm hm
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