South Carolina women's basketball: City of Columbia unveils statue of Dawn Staley
Dawn Staley has trophies, rings, and gold medals. Now she can add a statue to that list after a bronze likeness was unveiled in downtown Columbia.
The statue was unveiled Wednesday afternoon during a ceremony at the University of South Carolina Pastides Alumni Center at the Corner of Senate and Lincoln Streets in the Vista.
The site for the statue is a few blocks away from Colonial Life Arena. A portion of Lincoln Street already has the honorary name “Dawn Staley Way.”
“I tried to cheat a little bit and walk by it,” Staley said. “But you all kept it covered.”
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Hundreds of people braved the heat to watch the unveiling. They were joined by the Gamecock coaches, staff, and players. They all wore custom-designed t-shirts for the occasion.
Staley’s college coach, Debbie Ryan, attended, as did Steve and Jerri Spurrier. The Spurriers supported the women’s basketball program since before it became good.
Also present were “all the electeds,” joked city manager Teresa Wilson.
The statue was first proposed by Statues for Equity, a public arts funding group that aims to balance gender and racial representation in public statues. The statue cost $140,000, and funding came from a grant from Statues for Equity, local businesses, and community leaders.
Daniel Rickenmann, mayor of Columbia, was on board immediately.
“The problem is not us,” he said when he was first approached. “The problem is her. We’ve got to convince her.”
Indeed, Staley wanted A’ja Wilson to have the only statue and initially wasn’t interested. Rickenmann, who led the unveiling, eventually won out. He also declared May Dawn Staley Month in Columbia.
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The original plans were for the statue to be located at the corner of Main and Gervais Streets, across from the State House. Those plans changed, but the statue remained downtown.
“This honor is an interesting one for me. Having a statue with my image was never a goal, or even a thought,” Staley said. “Representation matters, so I agreed to the statue not for me, but for the girl who will walk by one day and wonder who I was. Maybe she’ll look me up and see that I did some things in basketball, but I hope she sees much more. I hope she sees that I was a champion for equity and equality, and in my own way, I pushed for change.”
The location isn’t the only change. The design for the statue, which is based on photos of Staley cutting down the net after the 2017 national championship, was widely panned when it was unveiled in February 2024.
The artists, Gillie and Marc, responded to the criticism by tweaking the design. The design change also delayed the timeline for the public unveiling.
Staley’s statue is a few blocks away from the statue of former women’s basketball player A’ja Wilson that is next to the fountain in front of Colonial Life Arena.
“I wanted hers to be the only one,” Staley said. Later, she added, “If (a little girl) wants to see greatness, A’ja Wilson is just up the way.”
There is also a statue of former football player George Rogers at Williams-Brice Stadium
