‘Dream merchant’ Dawn Staley draws praise after South Carolina’s record WNBA Draft

Dawn Staley was still riding the high of a historic night for her South Carolina women’s basketball program late Monday when she started channeling her inner LeBron James.

Milling around a high-rise ballroom in Spring Studios New York, home of the 2023 WNBA Draft, she turned to a nearby camera and started a slow, deliberate count — fingers included — in case anyone around her needed a reminder of how many Gamecocks were headed to the league.

“Not one …”

“Not two …”

“Not three …”

“Not four …”

A pause.

“But five!” Staley said, grinning in an in-house video released Tuesday by USC. “Where they do that at? Where they they do that at? Where they do that at? You know where they do that at.”

It was that type of night for South Carolina, which followed up a record-setting season with a record-setting WNBA output: Five players were selected among the draft’s 36 picks, a feat only three other teams in women’s college basketball history (1999 Tennessee, 2008 Tennessee and 2019 Notre Dame) have accomplished.

Forward Aliyah Boston went No. 1 to the Indiana Fever, forward Laeticia Amihere went No. 8 to the Atlanta Dream and guard Zia Cooke went No. 10 to the Los Angeles Sparks to tie USC’s program record for first-round picks in a single draft. Later, guard Brea Beal (No. 24, Minnesota Lynx) and forward Victaria Saxton (No. 25, Fever) finished things off.

And with each selection and each post-draft interview, a theme emerged among USC’s draftees: This moment was about them, yes, but also about Staley — the coach who’s long branded herself as a “dream merchant,” someone working obsessively to help players reach their full potential, and now has perhaps the best five-part pitch on the planet to prove as much.

Here’s Boston, the No. 1 overall pick, on Staley: “I think she’s just helped me be the player that I am right now. Over the past four years, she’s been able to help guide my steps into what it is to be a pro, guide my habits. For her to be in the crowd with the rest of our South Carolina crew is just amazing.”

And Beal: “She’s been through it all, many years of basketball. Her knowledge is through the roof, so we trust everything she says. For her to have four of us here (in person at the draft), it shows that we trust her, we believed in her and she believed in us throughout the whole entire way.”

And an emotional Cooke: “I won’t even have to keep her in my head because I know she’s a call away. So if I’m feeling anything, I know I can call her and cry. I know I can call her and express how I’m feeling. I know she’s going to always be here for me.”

Staley’s presence at Monday’s draft also drew widespread support on social media, with platforms such as CBS Sports, espnW and Yahoo! Sports highlighting her emotional reaction to Cooke’s post-draft interview, her dancing after Saxton was selected in the third round and her exclamation point-filled live tweets after every South Carolina selection.

“To all the women in the portal, and the ones still adorning your high jerseys, come be a part of something special,” CNN political analyst and South Carolina superfan Bakari Sellers said in a post-draft tweet. “Championships, sell outs, and a pro future. That’s @GamecockWBB.”

USC’s historic draft run put a bow on a 2022-23 season featuring an extended run of highs and one prominent low: The Gamecocks started out 36-0 in their quest to repeat as national champions, cruising through the SEC and their first four NCAA Tournament opponents, before bowing out to Iowa and star guard Caitlin Clark in the Final Four earlier this month.

That lone (albeit prominent) blemish on an otherwise perfect résumé didn’t deter WNBA teams from prioritizing South Carolina players. The Gamecocks had three more selections than any other team — eight programs, including national champion LSU, Stanford and UConn had two apiece — and were responsible for 13.8% of players drafted Monday (over an eighth of the entire pool).

Boston became the second No. 1 overall pick in program history behind Las Vegas Aces forward A’ja Wilson (2018) and made USC the fifth program in women’s college basketball with multiple No. 1 picks. Amihere, a career reserve, and Cooke, an admittedly hot-and-cold guard, both used excellent senior seasons to elevate themselves into first-round status.

Beal fell to the last pick of the second round — a slippage many fans and media members saw as a snub toward an honorable mention All-American projected to go top 10 — but eventually found her pro home. As did Saxton, a bit of a surprise pick at the top of the third round.

Heading into the 2023-24 season, that gave Staley 14 all-time WNBA Draft picks, 10 first-round picks, picks in seven of the last nine drafts and two No. 1 overall picks.

“And guess what?” she said Monday from the draft floor. “They’re gonna keep coming, and coming, and coming, and coming. Let’s go celebrate.”

South Carolina WBB 2023 WNBA Draft picks

• F Aliyah Boston: No. 1 overall to the Indiana Fever

• F Laeticia Amihere: No. 8 overall to the Atlanta Dream

• G Zia Cooke: No. 10 overall to the Los Angeles Sparks

• G Brea Beal: No. 24 overall (second round) to the Minnesota Lynx

• F Victaria Saxton: No. 25 overall (third round) to the Indiana Fever