icons of coaching

What makes a memorable, life-changing coach? It's not always experience (though that helps!). It's trust, dedication, and the innate understanding of how to push others to greatness, physically and mentally. These women have all of that, in spades. Presenting your 2025 Icons of Coaching starting lineup...

- Kristine Thomason

Dawn Staley has guided hundreds of athletes to greatness as the head coach of women's basketball at the University of South Carolina. Here she tells us how she does it—with an assist from her former player (and four-time WNBA MVP) A'ja Wilson.

IT'S A SCORCHING 104 DEGREES in the desert just outside Las Vegas. Through the rippling mirage, the mountains in the distance look almost like stadium seats, and the roaring wind could be cheers from adoring fans. At the center of it all, a basketball hoop emerges from the arid, sun-cracked earth, like something plucked straight out of a surrealist painting—and WNBA star A'ja Wilson and legendary coach Dawn Staley are draining free throws.

Every time A'ja dribbles, sand bursts from beneath the ball, stalling its momentum. Still, she manages to look as skillful and effortless as she does on the court. For the sake of the photo, Dawn mimes as if she's blocking her former player and forever mentee, her signature stack of bracelets dancing up and down her arm as she does so. The moment the cameras cut, the two fall into fits of laughter. "Get out of here!" A'ja jokes.

Their smiles and energy are so magnetic, they become the focal point of the entire expansive desert. As they sip on water, Dawn teases A'ja that she doesn't have to take it easy on her out here. Their dynamic is akin to that of close friends, or even a niece and her cool, accomplished aunt. In fact, A'ja says that "Coach has always been just like my second mom."

As they return to set, they pose side by side, an apple box positioned for Dawn to stand on—offering a way to bridge their significant height difference. (Coach is 5'6"; A'ja clocks in at 6'4".) "Are y'all short-shaming me?" Dawn laughs, before admitting she actually likes her newfound stature. "At this height, I would have stayed and played!"