Dawn Staley Steps Down As U.S. Women's Basketball Coach After Winning Gold

After leading Team USA to its seventh straight women's basketball Olympic gold medal, head coach Dawn Staley said she will not be the one to lead the team to an eighth. 

In the aftermath of Team USA's 90–75 win over Japan in Sunday's gold-medal game, Staley announced that she won't coach the team at the Paris Olympics in 2024.

As the first Black U.S. women's basketball coach, Staley also became the second woman to win a gold medal as a player, assistant and head coach along with Anne Donovan. The South Carolina coach previously won three Olympic gold medals as a player (1996, 2000, 2004) and two as an assistant coach to Donovan in 2008 and Geno Auriemma in 2016. 

"Our country has a lot of great coaches that can get the job done," Staley told USA Today's Dan Wolken. "Me, being a part of I believe six, that’s enough. I’m full, I’m full."

Since officially taking over in 2017, Staley has gone 45–0 as national team coach. Staley told the Star Tribune that she would recommend Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve, one of Staley's assistant coaches, as her replacement.

"Cheryl's been around for a long time and she has been an assistant coach with this team for a long time," Staley said. "She can handle this position quite well and she'll demand and command respect from the players.

"What she can bring to the table is unmatched. So she'd get my nod, for sure."

The gold medal final also marked the last game of Carol Callan’s tenure as national team director. Callan has been at the helm since the start of the seven-gold-medal streak in Atlanta in 1996. 

However, there's one legend who could stick around for Paris. Fresh off becoming the only basketball player to win five Olympic gold medals, alongside Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, 39, surprised all with her postgame interview.

"See you in Paris," Taurasi said. 

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