When $12M worth Dawn Staley revealed how TCU's Sedona Prince played a part in South Carolina HC's journey to becoming highest paid black female coach

In January, Dawn Staley was interviewed by sports reporter Jemele Hill on an episode of the "Jemele Hill is Unbothered" podcast. On the podcast, Staley spoke about her success at South Carolina, her potential future as a coach in the NBA, and equal pay for coaches irrespective of gender.

Dawn Staley is regarded as one of the best coaches in college basketball. She is also the highest-paid black female coach and has a net worth of $12 million.

On the show, Staley explained how the situation evolved for her to become the highest-paid black female coach. It involved TCU player Sedona Prince, who uploaded a TikTok video that showed major differences in equipment provided to the men and women for their respective NCAA Final Fours.

"Back in 2021, at the Final Four in San Antonio, Sedona Prince, who put out a Tiktok video that showed the disparities in what the tournaments were in two different places, Indiana and San Antonio. They (men's teams) had this big, lavish weight room, and then they gave us like a barbell, couple of barbells, and a yoga mat," Dawn Staley said.

Coach Staley then spoke about how she tried to change this situation. She said:

"So I was the first coach to write a letter and post it and send it out. And then some of the other coaches came behind that. And then I went home after the tournament, I'm like, 'I'm out here on a national level, asking for equality for women's basketball, and I come back to South Carolina, and I'm not even getting that here.' So I said, 'I'm gonna start here.'"

How Dawn Staley pursued a new contract and made history

Coach Dawn Staley - Source: Imagn

The 6-time WNBA All-Star said on the podcast that the process for her to finalize the details of her new contract took about six months. Coach Staley said that she did a lot of research and compared what she was making to what the men's team coach was making.

In the process, she discovered that the men's team coach made more in raises in comparison to the raises she was getting. This was despite the fact that she had more success than him. In the period she analysed, the South Carolina Men's team made the NCAA Final Four only once whereas Dawn Staley and her team have reached four Final Fours during her time at the helm.

Staley spoke about how this contract negotiation was something she did, not just for herself.

"But it was bigger than just me too. It wasn't just me. It was like, you know, you should, you should get just as much as your male counterpart. Not because, not because you do the same job. It's because you do the same job better," she said.

Dawn Staley is in her 17th season as the Gamecocks' head coach, leading the team to an 8-1 record after nine games. No. 3 South Carolina prepares to take on No. 9 TCU at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, on Saturday at 7 PM ET.