Dawn Staley Confirms Knicks' Interest in Coach Search

Dawn Staley feels like she stung her own chances to coach the New York Knicks.

The current boss of the University of South Carolina's women's basketball program confirmed that the Knicks indeed interviewed her for the opportunity to succeed Tom Thibodeau during an appearance on "Post Moves with Candace Parker and Aliyah Boston."

Staley said that, had the Knicks offered her the position, she would've accepted the offer immediately for both the prestige and its historic impact as the first female ascension to an NBA head coach's role.

Dawn Staley speaks on coaching in the NBA, saying “if the Knicks would have offered me the job, I would have had to do it.” 👀 pic.twitter.com/BnBGEskmNx
— Post Moves with Candace Parker & Aliyah Boston (@PostMovesShow) August 27, 2025

"If the Knicks would've offered me the job, I would've had to do it," Staley said, believing she did "pretty well" in the meeting. "Not just for me, it's for women, just to break open that. And it's the New York Knicks. I'm from Philly, but it's the freaking New York Knicks. I did say that in the interview."

"Would I take any NBA job? No, but I will say this: the NBA has to be ready for a female head coach. You can't just interview somebody and say we're going to hire her."

Staley believes that two questions in the interview might've cost her the job: she asked management if the organization, in its history, had "ever had what [it was] looking for" and how it would handle the unique position of being the first team to name a woman to the head coach's spot. Afterward, Staley said that the "energy" of the interview changed her queries, apparently placing the Knicks on a path to hiring Mike Brown instead.

"They wanted a team, they wanted inclusiveness with management and the coaches," Staley said. "The answer was really no. But if you don't anybody different, how are you going to get that? "

"You're going to be asked questions that don't have to be asked if you hire a male coach," Staley said of her other question. "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 and don't have to deal with when you hire a male. That really got them to thinking about 'oh, maybe she's right.'"

Staley will instead return for an 18th season at the helm of the Gamecocks, who have become one of women's college basketball's most elite programs since her 2008 entry.

Under Staley's watch, USC has won three national championships and has sent countless Staley proteges into the WNBA including Boston, Allisha Gray, and A'ja Wilson. The most recent national championship run came in 2024, which served as the capper to a perfect 38-0 season, allowing them to become the 10th Division I women's team to post a perfect tour.

The Gamecocks open their 2025-26 season on Nov. 3 when they face Grand Canyon at home in Columbia.

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