COACHES
Catapulting South Carolina into the national spotlight when she was hired in May 2008, Dawn Staley has
made the Gamecocks a mainstay in the battle for SEC and national championships. Under her leadership,
the Gamecocks have reached many firsts – National Championships, NCAA Final Fours, No. 1 rankings, SEC
regular-season and tournament titles, SEC Players of the Year, National Players of the Year, WNBA No. 1
Draft picks, an undefeated regular season, and No. 1 recruiting classes – to name the most notable.
Lisa Boyer joined the South Carolina staff in May 2008, shortly after head coach Dawn Staley announced
her intention to join the Gamecocks. Boyer has been the top assistant on a Staley-led staff since the
2002-03 season when she returned to the college ranks after five seasons coaching at the professional
level.
Jolette Law returned to her homestate to join the Gamecocks in June 2017, reuniting with her long-time
friend in South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley. Law has been a head coach, an associate head coach and
an assistant for five different programs, including some of the most successful seasons at a pair of
long-time women’s basketball powers. Renowned as one of the best recruiters in the nation, she has been
part of landing four top-three classes, including the No. 1 classes in 2019 and 2021 for the Gamecocks.
South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley added Winston Gandy to the Gamecocks’ staff in April 2023, bringing his six years of NCAA Division I coaching experience and three seasons of NBA player development to her veteran staff.
“Winston is exactly the type of person we love having in our program because of the way he develops true connections with young people,” Staley said. “He is a highly sought after young talent in our game, and I’m so happy he is bringing his great basketball mind and his ability to recruit and develop talent to Columbia.”
“Winston is exactly the type of person we love having in our program because of the way he develops true connections with young people,” Staley said. “He is a highly sought after young talent in our game, and I’m so happy he is bringing his great basketball mind and his ability to recruit and develop talent to Columbia.”
In Summer 2022, Dawn Staley welcomed Mary Wooley back to her staff, on which she served three previous seasons as the director of recruiting operations. Wooley was hired as the program’s director of recruiting and strategy following a coaching career that includes 10 seasons as an assistant coach across four different teams. In July 2023, she was named an assistant coach.
One of the key pieces in the resurgence of South Carolina Women’s Basketball, Khadijah Sessions returned to the Gamecock bench in July 2023 as an assistant coach. The former point guard from Myrtle Beach, S.C., had been coaching at the high school level for several years after her playing career concluded.