2025 women’s March Madness coaches who played in WNBA like Dawn Staley

A champion will be crowned in the 2025 women’s NCAA Tournament on April 6. A little more than a week later, some of the college basketball stars of March Madness will turn the page and start the next phase of their career at the 2025 WNBA draft.

Dawn Staley has been on this path before. Before Staley was the head coach of South Carolina women’s basketball, she was a star athlete for the Virginia Cavaliers. She parlayed her collegiate success into a lengthy WNBA career and three Olympic gold medals with the U.S. women’s team. Staley’s experience at winning at all levels has translated to her coaching, helping South Carolina win three national championships in seven years, including the most recent one in 2024.

Staley is not the only coach in the 2025 women’s March Madness field who has WNBA experience. From Staley to Duke’s Kara Lawson, here’s a list of former WNBA players coaching in the 2025 NCAA Tournament:

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Dawn Staley, South Carolina

College: Virginia (1988–1992)WNBA: Charlotte Sting (1999–2005), Houston Comets (2005–06)

Staley led the Virginia Cavaliers to four NCAA tournaments, three Final Fours (1990-92) and one national championship game (1991) during her collegiate career. She was named the 1991 NCAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player – despite her team losing the national title to Pat Summitt and the Tennessee Volunteers – and the Naismith College Player of the Year for two consecutive years (1991, 1992).

Staley was drafted by the Charlotte Sting with the ninth overall pick of the 1999 WNBA draft. She earned six All-Star nods during her eight-year career and was later named to the WNBA’s 10th and 15th Anniversary Teams in 2006 and 2011, respectively. Staley also won three Olympic gold medals with the Team USA (1996, 2000, 2004).

Staley began her head coaching career at Temple in 2000, while she was still playing in the WNBA and remained there for eight seasons, taking the Owls to the NCAA Tournament six times. She took over as the head coach of the South Carolina Gamecoks in 2008 and has led the Gamecocks to three national titles (2017, 2022, 2024).

Kara Lawson, Duke

College: Tennessee (1999–2003)WNBA: Sacramento Monarchs (2003–09), Connecticut Sun (2010–13), Washington Mystics (2014–15)

Lawson played for legendary head coach Pat Summitt at Tennessee and went to one Sweet Sixteen (2001), one Final Four (2002) and two national championship games with the Lady Volunteers, although Tennessee dropped both title games to UConn.

Lawson was selected by the Detroit Shock with the fifth overall pick in 2003 and was immediately traded to the Sacramento Monarchs, where she was key member in the team’s 2005 WNBA championship run. She earned an All-Star nod in 2007 and won gold with Team USA at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where she had a team-high 15 points in the gold-medal game against Australia.

Lawson was an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics (2019-2020), before taking over as the head coach of the Duke Blue Devils in 2020.

Niele Ivey, Notre Dame

College: Notre Dame (1996–2001)WNBA: Indiana Fever (2001–04), Phoenix Mercury (2005), Detroit Shock (2005)

Ivey has been to college basketball’s promised land. She led the Fighting Irish to their first NCAA women’s national championship in 2001 as a player under then-head coach Muffet McGraw and was named to the All-Tournament team. Ivey was then selected by Indiana Fever in the second round of the 2001 WNBA draft with the 19th overall pick.

Ivey spent five years in the league before transitioning into coaching. She got her coaching career started at Xavier as an assistant (2005-07) and returned to her alma mater as an assistant under McGraw (2007–19). Ivey took over as head coach in 2020 after McGraw retired.

Fun Fact: Ivey is the mother of son Jaden Ivey, who was drafted fifth overall by the Detroit Pistons in 2022.

College: Florida State (1997–2001)WNBA: Orlando Miracle (2001–02), Connecticut Sun (2003-05), Chicago Sky (2006–09)

Wyckoff is another player who returned to coach at their alma mater. Wyckoff was a star forward at Florida State, picking up ACC All-Defensive Team honors in 2000 and 2001.

She was drafted with the 26th overall pick of the 2001 WNBA draft by the Orlando Miracle and spent time with the Connecticut Sun (after the team move from Orlando) and Chicago Sky during her eight-year career. She notably hit a 3-pointer with two seconds left in Game 2 of the 2005 WNBA Finals between the Sun and the Monarchs to send the game to overtime. The Sun went on to win the game, but lost the championship series, 3-1.

Wyckoff retired in 2009 after tearing her ACL and went into coaching. She joined her alma mater as an assistant coach under her former head coach, Sue Semrau. Wyckoff was named interim head coach of the Florida State women’s basketball team during the 2020-21 season when Semrau had to take a leave of absence. She became the Seminoles full-time head coach in 2022 when Semrau retired.

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