There’s something magical about Dawn Staley. When she started coaching the Gamecocks in 2008, the South Carolina program was far from what it is now. In fact, the team hadn’t even advanced past Elite Elite. And now, 16 years later, they are the 3x NCAA Champions. While fans might have difficulty decoding this magic, her agent surely knows what stands out.

On Wednesday’s episode of Diggin’ Deep Podcast, Excel Sports Management Vice President Erin Kane shared what stands out in Staley and how the 54-year-old is an inspiration for her.

“I’m constantly inspired by my clients like I work with Dawn Staley. She’s just it’s like fascinating for me to see how her mind works from a strategic standpoint. Like the level of excellence she holds herself to, how she coaches her players, how she communicates with them. You know I’ve just always tried to operate in this field of work like with integrity, as at the heart of it and hard work like sometimes you learn by like what you don’t want to be,” Kane stated.

Staley during one of her radio show appearances on Carolina Calls in October had revealed that she believed in being open to her players. “We are very open, honest and frank,” she mentioned about telling her players where they stand and if they could make the team in a particular game.

Pointing out the importance of communication, the 3x NCAA Championship winning coach had shared that “when working with young people is just communicate with them, don’t leave them in a space where they have to think about ‘Oh what do they want from me.'”

“And I’ve certainly had examples of agents that I’ve been around where I’m like ‘Gosh! They’re so lazy. They’re not doing a good job for these clients.’ And like if I were the client I would be so upset and disappointed if I could kind of see behind the curtain,'” Kane stated.

And Staley does the same. The Gamecocks head coach works hard and stressed on giving clear instructions to her players that might help them introspect and perform well for the team. She also enunciated that she doesn’t let her mentee’s confidence take hit so that whenever they take the floor, they’re “super productive.” 

“So I always wanted it if someone could see behind the curtain for them to be like- ‘No, she’s really working hard for me. And she has my best interest at… and she’s always going to tell me the truth.’ Yeah that’s like those are and I’ve yeah and how can I hold myself to less of a standard than my clients? Like they’re all working to be the literal best the most elite that they can be. So I should have those expectations for myself too,” Kane added.

And therefore as per Kane’s admission, she has embodied a lot from Staley, keeping in mind that her client is super good at what she does, and Excel Sports’ VP needs to maintain the same standards.

Staley in the past three years has taken her team to two NCAA titles. She has had an undefeated 38-0 season last year. While there were popular players like Kamilla Cardoso and MiLaysia Fulwiley, the 2X AP National Coach of the Year maintained a sort of balance in the team that resulted in the entire team contributing. Surely, it would be an understatement to call it one of the best. Meanwhile, Kane also gave a sneak peek into one of her meets with Staley.

Erin Kane met Dawn Staley in her ‘favorite’ activity

The 2018 Women’s Basketball World Cup was held in Tenerife, Spain, and Staley was announced as the head coach that comprised stars such as Sue Bird, Jewell Loyd, A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, and Diana Taurasi among others. The team won the group stage and eventually defeated Australia in the Finals by a 73-56 margin. It was in Tenerife that Kane met Staley and had a good time with her.

“My favorite Dawn moment is actually like when I really got to know her, I was over in Tenerife with USA Basketball for the World Cup in 2018. And we were all kind of like isolated in this little hotel, in like the old town part of Tenerife which is pretty quiet to be honest. We played a lot of cards, and she loves to play cards. I love to play cards: spades hearts. Like don’t care, if you have a deck, I will play cards. And she’s the same way,” Kane divulged.

Notably, Kane is close to the Hall of Famer not only for being the Gamecocks’ head coach’s agent but also to a lot of previous or current Gamecocks stars. Notably, Zia Cooke, Te-Hina Paopao, Bree Hall, Chloe Kitts, and MiLaysia Fulwiley were all at some point or right now signed with Kane.

“So we spent time in that hotel lobby, and like I said, like I love watching how other people think. And like how they handle things strategically. So that was I don’t know that she knew, she was being observed like that. Probably still doesn’t but it was yeah it was fun,” Kane concluded. And much like Staley has been the inspiration for Kane, she is one for all her fans. And probably she will take the Gamecocks to back-to-back titles this year.