South Carolina great leads a new generation of guards under Dawn Staley
Khadijah Sessions helped lead South Carolina to its first Final Four in Tampa Bay in 2015. Now, a decade later, she works towards leading a new generation of Gamecock guards to that same city.
Sessions played under Dawn Staley from 2012-16. Sessions averaged 5.9 points per game in her time as a player alongside two rebounds and 2.2 assists. In her team-captain senior season, she ranked fifth in the SEC in steals (2.1).
After an overseas career that included a 2019 FIBA AmeriCup gold medal, Sessions returned to her alma mater to serve as an assistant coach on Staley’s staff.
Her biggest role among the South Carolina guards she coaches can vary from player to player.
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For Raven Johnson, it’s passing and how to use her voice that Sessions has helped out the most with.
“Or, like, how to treat others,” Johnson said. “Like some people can’t take screaming or yelling, or some people can’t take calm, talk to them. It’s just different ways you’ve got to talk to your teammates.”
However, for Te-Hina Paopao, it’s how to handle practices, games — and Staley.
“She knows Coach from like the back of her hand because she’s been with her before,” Paopao said. “She has a lot of input to say, and I listen because she’s been through it all.”
Johnson said it’s a blessing to learn from her. For her, Sessions’ role goes beyond just assistant coach with South Carolina. Johnson also compared her to a mother-type figure.
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“Her IQ for the game is phenomenal, right,” Johnson said. “Things that she sees, and I’ll be like ‘Wow, coach I would have never thought of that.'”
Banter can also grow between Sessions and the Gamecock players, too.
“Some people will be like ‘Coach, you can’t shoot them threes. You only shooting mid-ranges and stuff like that,'” Johnson said. “She’ll be like ‘I know how to win. Like, I know what it to do to take to win. Like nobody could guard me.’ Like the way she talks, it gets you confidence in yourself. If she could do it, why can’t we do it?”
However, Johnson said she can be aggressive in her coaching at times.
“She’s already hard on Maddy (McDaniel). Like, Maddy gets the due from her in practice,” Johnson said. “And I love that because as a freshman, it’s just gonna help her like she doesn’t understand. She was like that Sania, her freshman year, and look at Sania now.”
McDaniel said she tries to listen to everything she says, no matter the tone it’s said in.
“And I know she wants the best for me, like whether she is being hard or not,” McDaniel said. “Or she’s saying in a chilled, laid back way, I know she wants what’s best for me.”
Paopao said when Sessions speaks up to her, she knows its something serious.
“When she’s talking, you listen because she has so much insight and it’s something that I love coming from Khadijah,” Paopao said. “And it’s something that I’ve always asked about her. Like, ‘He,y what did I do wrong?’ or ‘Am I doing this too much?’ And it’s something I value.”
