South Carolina girls’s basketball coach Daybreak Staley is an Olympic gold medalist, true crime aficionado, devoted canine mother and a lot extra. In her new e-book “Unusual Favor” — which hit cabinets on Might 20 — Staley touches on a few of her passions whereas additionally sharing the life experiences that helped form her right into a championship-winning coach.
By means of “Unusual Favor,” readers study quite a bit about what drives Staley and found some candid moments that present a glimpse into her character. With that in thoughts, CBS Sports activities determined to share 5 highlights from Staley’s new autobiography.
Her life motto comes from the film ‘Home Celebration’
After being minimize from the 1992 USA Olympic staff, Staley was compelled to proceed her basketball profession in Spain. To fight the frustration of lacking the Olympic staff and her homesickness, Staley determined to observe the “Home Celebration” film trilogy. Whereas watching these traditional comedic movies, Staley stumbled throughout a scene that may change the best way she views life.
“There was a scene in one of many movies the place Child ‘n Play have been partying and messing round, and a professor catches them and reads them the Riot Act,” Staley remembers. “As he is education them, the professor concludes his lecture, saying sternly, ‘You must do what you do not wish to do to get what you need.’
“My mind froze once I heard that line. I used to be like, ‘Ohhhh. That is why I am right here.’ That message wasn’t for you, Child ‘n Play. That message was for me.”
After that, she determined to “suck it up” and proceed gaining expertise by enjoying overseas as a result of she knew it might finally assist her make a future USA Olympic staff.
Tara VanDerveer impressed Staley
Daybreak Staley made the the ultimate Staff USA roster for the 1996 Summer time video games in Atlanta. In doing so, legendary Stanford girls’s basketball coach Tara VanDerveer grew to become her Olympic head coach. In “Unusual Favor,” Staley recalled VanDerveer’s rigorous coaching camp necessities the coach would monitor carefully.
Staley described VanDerveer’s teaching type as “calculating, methodical, manipulative even,” whereas additionally saying she has nothing however respect for VanDerveer, referring to her as a “genius” and a “savant.”
When Staley began her personal teaching profession, she borrowed a few of her methods. She even used the identical Olympic coaching camp exercises on her personal gamers.
“My considering was, if these younger girls do half of this, we’re goin to be in fairly darn good condition,” Staley wrote.
Staley made Allen Iverson nervous
The lives of NBA legend Allen Iverson and Staley complement one another in a particular approach.
Iverson grew to become the face of the NBA and a league MVP in Staley’s hometown of Philadelphia as a member of the 76ers. As for Staley, she began the her journey to basketball stardom in Iverson’s homestate on the College of Virginia. On prime of this, they’re each smaller backcourt gamers who dominated their larger opponents.
These bodily similarities made Iverson an inspiration for Staley. To her, the 6-foot taking pictures guard made up for his lack of measurement with “swagger and magnificence.” They finally grew to become mates. In doing so, she discovered that Iverson admired her as a lot as she admired him.
“He informed me he was nervous after we first met,” Staley wrote. “Apparently, I used to be his favourite participant whereas I used to be at Virginia. He watched me on tv, simply as I might watched him whereas he was in Philly. … Now we have a singular bond from enjoying in one another’s residence states. He tells of us I am his favourite girls’s basketball participant of all time, a praise that humbles me.”
Staley’s constructed for the faculty sidelines
Staley interviewed for the Portland Path Blazers’ head teaching place in 2021. In “Unusual Favor”, she remembers becoming a member of a Zoom interview throughout which 5 Blazers workers requested her a bunch of questions that targeted totally on analytics and celebrity gamers.
Staley did not have NBA expertise, however she mentioned she was nonetheless handled as a critical candidate. A couple of days later, they informed her the staff was entering into a special path. Finally, they employed NBA champion Chauncey Billups.
Nonetheless, Staley wasn’t upset she did not get the job as a result of the expertise put her profession in perspective.
“I appreciated the consideration. However ultimately, it jogged my memory why teaching younger girls remans the perfect situation for me,” Staley wrote. “I do not wish to therapeutic massage egos and fear about analytics, although that is until a part of my job. What I would like is to vary generations by means of enjoying the sport. … For me, there’s simply one thing about girls’s school basketball that appears, sounds, and feels proper.”
Dealing with success is not straightforward
Profitable her first Olympic gold medal in 1996 was an thrilling expertise for Staley. It was a life purpose for her and he or she proudly took it again to Philly, the place she gave it to her mother. Nonetheless, within the following weeks, the belief that she’s reached her mountaintop induced her to slide into an sudden despair.
“I did not know my very own physique. My head felt indifferent,” Staley wrote. “I used to be exhausted and numb. Unhappy, however I could not cry. It was as if I used to be watching myself from afar, going by means of the motions of life. … Lifelong aspirations: Verify. Now what?”
Staley’s Olympic coach, VanDerveer, typically recited a well-known Bobby Knight phrase: “Psychological is to the bodily as 4 is to at least one.” This caught with Staley, and he or she knew she needed to work on her psychological well being to be the most effective model of herself on the court docket. Finally, she informed Lisa Boyer — Staley’s coach when she performed for the ABL’s Philadelphia Rage — that she could not make it to coaching camp.
Staley took two weeks off, however felt responsible about not being together with her teammates. Boyer, nonetheless, informed her to take on a regular basis she wanted. Within the course of, she helped Staley “climb out of these darkish, post-Olympic days” by exhibiting grace and being supportive.