South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley would've taken Knicks job if offered, she says

Michael Sauls, The State on Aug 27, 2025

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COLUMBIA, S.C. — Rumors swirled in June that the New York Knicks had reached out to South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley about their head coaching vacancy.

Those rumors were eventually confirmed by various reports and even by South Carolina Athletics Director Jeremiah Donati.

And on a new episode of a “Post Moves,” a podcast hosted by former Gamecock Aliyah Boston and WNBA great Candace Parker, Staley confirmed that she interviewed for the job — and said she would’ve taken it, if she had been offered.

“I interviewed for the Knicks,” Staley said in the episode published Wednesday. “... I thought I did pretty well. I was well-prepared for the interview. If the Knicks would have offered me the job, I would have had to do it. Not just for me, it’s for women, just to break open that.”

The Knicks aren’t the first NBA team to consider Staley for their head coaching position. In 2021, the Portland Trailblazers interviewed Staley about their vacancy.

Staley said she wouldn’t take just any NBA job, but the Knicks are a historic franchise she’d consider leading if given the chance. That’s despite her affection for the Philadelphia 76ers, her hometown team and Knicks rival.

“I’m from Philly, but it’s the freaking New York Knicks,” Staley said. “And I did say that in the interview … I did. I was like, ‘It’s the freaking New York Knicks.’ Would I take any NBA job? No.”

Staley said in the podcast that she felt she “shot myself in the foot” during the interview by asking the Knicks a series of questions regarding how they would handle hiring the first NBA woman head coach.

“My other question was, ‘How, if you hired me as the first female coach in the (NBA), how would it impact your daily job?’ ” Staley recalled. “Because it would. It would. Because you’re going to be asked questions that you don’t have to be asked if you hire a male coach. There’s going to be the media, there’s going to be all this stuff that you’re going to have to deal with that you didn’t have to deal with or you don’t have to deal with when you hire a male.”

What about a move to the WNBA?

During the show Staley was asked about her interest in ever coaching in the WNBA, specifically the league’s expansion franchise set to play in Philadelphia starting in 2030.

Staley’s answer was short and to the point: “No.”

The Gamecocks’ head coach has said over recent years that she has little interest in coaching in the WNBA, often citing her passion is molding young players like she does at South Carolina.

“I don’t want to coach in the WNBA,” Staley said. “I could have coached in the WNBA a long time ago. That really isn’t my passion. My true passion is young people, preparing young people for the WNBA. Because I want the WNBA to be around for a long time. So if we could keep feeding the WNBA Aliyah Bostons, we’re going to be in a great place. We’re going to be in a great, great place.”

Staley has repeatedly said she would rather be involved in an ownership group if she were to jump to the pros. The closest she’s come to that so far is by being an investor in Unrivaled, a newly created pro 3-on-3 women’s league that competes in the WNBA’s offseason.

“I want ownership,” Staley said. “I want to own, I don’t want to coach. … I want to be in the room helping to make decisions on how you put a product on the floor, how you get into the community, how you get people in the stands. That’s the sweat equity that I want, but I want that as an owner.”

Could Staley ever jump to the pros?

While a move to the pros for Staley seems unlikely, this certainly won’t be the last time a team comes calling.

South Carolina has won 475 games under Staley. She’s turned the program into a perennial contender with nine SEC Tournament championships and three national titles.

Staley also received a historic contract extension in January that should keep her around in Columbia for the immediate future. Her deal is worth approximately $25.5 million and made her the highest-paid women’s basketball coach in the country. The contract expires in 2030.

That being said, Staley has an easier out than most coaches do if she were to leave South Carolina for the pros.

If Staley were to leave South Carolina for a head coaching job in the NBA or WNBA before April 15, 2030, she would owe the school nothing, per the buyout clause in her contract. That’s a drastic difference than if she were to leave South Carolina for another college coaching job, in which she would owe South Carolina 100% of the remaining compensation left on her deal.

“I would never leave here to go take another college job,” Staley said in January. “It’s nothing — like I have the best of the best here. I don’t have a passion for the next level. I don’t. I would have been gone. Like, seriously.”