UNCOMMON FAVOR

A shy kid speaks up on the court.

The uniquely decorated author—Staley is the only person to win college basketball’s august Naismith Award as both player and coach—pens a candid, self-aware memoir about her unusually successful career. Staley grew up in “a crammed row home” in North Philadelphia, nicknamed Dirt because “I’d rather play ball than bathe.” Introverted and alert, she learned discipline by observing her mother, Estelle, who earned money cleaning houses, which she did “with pride, like a boss.” Staley was most comfortable on the court, playing point guard, where lack of height mattered less than smarts and competitiveness. After her storied playing days at the University of Virginia—she graduated in 1992—Staley landed an uninspiring job “stacking jeans.” To play professionally, she went to Spain. She “hated it abroad,” but homesickness led to an unlikely, charmingly recounted breakthrough. Watching the Kid ’n Play–starring House Party movies, her “brain froze” when a character said, “You have to do what you don’t want to do to get what you want.” This became her “life motto,” fueling her stellar professional playing career—she joined the Charlotte Sting in 1999, lending star power to the two-year-old WNBA—and three national championships as the University of South Carolina women’s coach. Coaches typically say only nice things about colleagues, but Staley is winningly direct. Tara VanDerveer, who coached the 1996 women’s U.S. Olympic team, “relentlessly” chided Staley and her teammates, taking “it to a place she didn’t need to.” Staley is equally outspoken about her faith and the need for women’s college basketball, where a substantial percentage of the players are Black, to be more “intentional about hiring Black women” and equitably paying them. Her message resonates beyond the gym.

Instructive episodes from the rise and reign of a hardwood heroine.