When Dawn Staley explained how she produced leaders at South Carolina: “I tell them, 'Don’t come to me until it’s something that you can’t handle'”

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley has developed some of the best leaders in college basketball. Throughout her 17-year tenure, the Gamecocks have produced numerous players who have gone on to lead at the professional level including A'ja Wilson, Aliyan Boston, Allisha Gray and more.

In a January 2023 video interview with Brett Ledbetter, an author and former college basketball player, Staley detailed her approach to developing leaders on her team.

"Leaders lead in different ways. I want our players to be as authentic to themselves as possible," the defending national champion coach said (21:07 onwards).

"We allow them to lead in their own way. I tell our leaders, pretty much, 'Don’t come to me until there’s something that you can’t handle.'

"You’ve got to exhaust different ways of leading through problematic issues. And when you’ve exhausted everything and you can’t do anything, come to me, then we’ll work some things out."

Any players who show interest in being a team captain first must let the coaching staff know by raising their hand. Then, the entire program — players, coaches and support staff — gather to hear from the captain candidates in a small meeting.

"We basically ask them why they want to be leaders," Dawn Staley continued. "They’ve got to answer that. Then we just fire off different questions to them. We set up hypothetical situations and ask how they would handle certain things."

After, the program votes on who they believe will best represent the team as a leader.

Dawn Staley praises former South Carolina star A'ja Wilson amid jersey retirement

A'ja Wilson helped take the South Carolina women's basketball to a new level, guiding Dawn Staley's Gamecocks to their first national championship in 2017.

On Sunday, at Colonial Life Arena, the school honored its 2018 National Player of the Year by retiring her No. 22 jersey.

"I’m happy that we’re able to give her her flowers at such a young age to where she’ll be able to smell them for a very, very long time," Staley said after the Auburn game (2:07). "And it was really cool. It’s a really cool moment to be a part of."

"What she means to our program is legendary. You think of legendary as just what they do on the court. I think the magic of A'ja is all the other stuff."

Wilson, the two-time WNBA champion and reigning WNBA MVP, is arguably the greatest player and leader Dawn Staley has ever coached in her career. The Gamecocks coach believes Wilson's impact went far beyond her accomplishments on the court.