Former USCA star won't join Gamecock staff
5/13/2008 11:47 PM   0 comment(s) on this story E-mail this story to a friend

By KENTON MAKIN

Staff writer

Famed women's basketball player Dawn Staley was appointed as USC's women's basketball coach March 10, a move that looked to have local ramifications.

Mary Wooley, a former member of USC Aiken's basketball team and a part of Staley's staff at Temple, appeared to be a likely choice to follow the Olympian to Columbia.

Wooley has planned to stay in the Philadelphia, Pa., area, though, to pursue a Ph.D. in kinesiology with a specialization in exercise and sport psychology.

"Had I been in a different place with school, I would've loved the opportunity," Wooley said. "South Carolina has a fond place in my heart. When I am finished, (though), if she has a position, I am going to seek her out."

Wooley worked with Staley for five years, the last two as Staley's director of basketball operations.

Wooley spent the first three years as a graduate assistant, where she helped the team with such tasks as recruiting and community relations.

As director of basketball operations, Wooley had a hand in all of the team's dealings and also helped plan and execute the Dawn Staley Basketball Camp and Academy.

At USC Aiken, Wooley was a four-year member of the Lady Pacers and spent the last two years as a captain. She helped the team to a Peach Belt Conference championship and the school's first-ever NCAA women's basketball tournament bid in 2001-02. During her two years as captain, the team won back-to-back PBC Northern Division titles.

Wooley said it was an honor to work with one of the game's greats, and that Staley was in her element as far as working with people and coaching the game of basketball.

"It's probably a dream that many young professionals have to work for the greatest in the game," Wooley said. "I've never seen a basketball mind like hers ... for the five years I've worked with her, it's been tremendous.

"As far as leadership, she understand people and basketball," Wooley added. "She sees where people need to go before they realize it for themselves ... she gets you there while letting you figure it out."

Staley promised to "bring national prominence to South Carolina," and Wooley doesn't believe that's outside of the realm of possibility in a conference that features the likes of perennial hoops powers Tennessee and LSU.

"It's an amazing opportunity for her," Wooley said. "With the (SEC) being such a high-level conference ... (she'll be up) against the best competition in the country. I believe she's going to be tremendously successful."

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