Dawn Staley pays tribute to legendary women’s basketball coach Sunday’s NCAA Tournament second-round game against South Florida.
Staley wore a Cheyney State jersey in honor Jim Vivian Stringerwho coached the Wolverhampton team to the national championship in 1982, a game in which the team came away from Louisiana Tech.
Cheyney State is the oldest HBCU in the country, and remains the only Final Four finalist.
“A friend of mine texted me and asked if I wanted the shirt,” Staley said. And I was like, ‘Of course. “I love the shirt, I like what it represents.”
Yolanda Laney is the player represented on the shirt, as she wore number 44 for Wolves. Laney is the forward-facing player in a Sports Illustrated cover That brought out Cheyney State – now known as Cheyney University and located in Cheyney, Pennsylvania.
Staley said Stringer played a huge role in creating the Developmental Basketball League, or DBL, in Philadelphia when she was younger. This allowed young Staley to work on her game over the summer.
“Lovely memories of that,” Staley said.
Stringer has won 1,055 games in her coaching career, fifth all-time. She also coached at Iowa and Rutgers. She trained from 1972 to 2022, and recently celebrated her 75th birthday.
She has reached the final four times in her career, winning the Naismith Coach of the Year award in 1993.
“To be led by Coach Stringer, who opened the doors I now walk through, it was a real honor to wear this jersey and represent them,” Staley said.
