Dawn Staley Reportedly Not Knicks HC Finalist, Impressed in Interview Amid NBA Rumors

Despite some interaction between the two sides, University of South Carolina head women's basketball coach Dawn Staley is reportedly not in the running to be the next head coach of the New York Knicks.

According to James L. Edwards III of The Athletic, the Knicks reached out to Staley and she impressed during the conversation they had, but she is not considered a finalist for the job.

The Knicks are the only NBA team currently without a head coach after they fired Tom Thibodeau last month following their elimination by the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Staley, 55, was a superstar player at the University of Virginia and then in the WNBA, earning six All-Star selections and winning three Olympic gold medals during her Hall of Fame career.

In 2000, Staley became the head women's basketball coach at Temple in her hometown of Philadelphia. Staley was still playing at the time, and she continued to do so for the first several years of her coaching career.

Staley spent eight seasons at Temple, going 172-80 with six trips to the NCAA tournament.

She parlayed that success into landing the head coaching job at South Carolina, and she has molded the Gamecocks into perennial championship contenders.

Over 17 seasons at South Carolina, Staley is 475-110. She has guided the team to the past 14 NCAA tournaments.

South Carolina won national titles in 2017, 2022 and 2024, finishing with a perfect 38-0 record the latter year.

The Gamecocks have also made four other trips to the Final Four aside from those national title years under Staley. She's a four-time Naismith Coach of the Year and two-time Associated Press National Coach of the Year.

While Staley has never coached men, Becky Hammon proved that a successful women's basketball player can resonate with male players from a coaching perspective.

Before becoming head coach of the WNBA's Las Vegas Aces in 2022, Hammon was an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs from 2014 to 2021. The Spurs won the Summer League title in 2015 with Hammon as their head coach.

Although she didn't land them, Hammon interviewed for head coaching and general manager positions in the NBA before going back to the WNBA.

That suggests a female head coach in the NBA is a legitimate possibility one day, and Staley may be the best bet to break down those barriers.

As for the Knicks, ESPN's Shams Charania reported Monday that former Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown is a strong candidate for the head coaching job and is scheduled for a second interview.

The Knicks have also interviewed former Memphis Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins and Minnesota Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori after getting turned down in their attempts to interview Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd, Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka and T-Wolves head coach Chris Finch.