ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, July 25, 1996 TAG: 9607250045
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: our eyes in atlanta
DATELINE: ATLANTA
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK note: above
It wouldn't be right to say that, more than anything, Dawn Staley wants to win a gold medal.
What she still wants to do is what she's always wanted to do.
The former Virginia star wants to play basketball in the neighborhood.
In the Atlanta Games, she's getting that opportunity, with the Olympics in her country, just like her pro future, with the Richmond Rage of the fledgling American Basketball League.
Growing up in the Raymond Rosen neighborhood of North Philadelphia, Staley used to bug her buddy, the late Hank Gathers, and his friends to allow her to play hoops with them.
"He'd tell me to go put on a skirt,'' said Staley, who is helping take her sport to another level today at the Georgia Dome and this fall in the ABL.
Gathers, the former Loyola Marymount star, died on the floor from an irregular heartbeat. Before he did, he tried to help recruit Staley to the California school.
"I'm an East Coast girl,'' she said.
She knows her former UVa pal, Bryant Stith, just signed a five-year, $22 million contract with the Denver Nuggets. And what did she make playing three years in Europe?
"A lot of a little less than Shaq[uille O'Neal] just signed for,'' she said.
The NBA men can call their Olympic team what they want. The women's squad on which Staley is the backup point guard is her dream team. She left home to play in Spain, Italy, France and Brazil.
"The reason I went over there is because I wanted to be part of this, of the Olympic team,'' said Staley after the U.S. trounced the Ukraine on Tuesday. "You can't play against guys on the playground and expect to get here."
Staley's elan was obvious in Game 1 of the women's team's trip toward what should be gold. She had seven assists in Sunday's win over Cuba, including behind-the-back, no-look passes.
"I think it's great I did those passes,'' Staley said with modesty after the second U.S. win at Morehouse College gym. "I think some people showed up looking for me to do it today. That's what our game needs, things that bring people back.''
The U.S. women's team is producing many happy returns, and today moves its playing site to the Georgia Dome for a noon game with Zaire. Staley and her teammates are fun to watch.
"It's fun playing again,'' Staley said. "The toughest year for me was right after I got out of school [graduating at UVA in 1992], and I didn't go over to Europe to play until October.
"I'm a short guard, and those people over there didn't think I could play. Europe is into what the NBA does, and that's about it. They wanted a tall guard until they saw me play.
"I hated it. They don't like basketball; they like winning. That's all they cared about. I lived out of my suitcase. I was in Segovia, Spain, and every single day I almost came home."
"Basketball is a passion of mine. Money is secondary. I love to play. I want to play where people appreciate good basketball, but I have to admit, I never thought I'd see us where we are now.''
Staley was told she was too inexperienced internationally to play on the '92 women's Olympic team in the Barcelona Games. So, she played internationally. And when she returned home and made the national team that became the Olympic squad, she was somewhat taken aback.
"I didn't think the outcome would be as great as this,'' said Staley, 26, "that what we've done in the last year would start a pro league, two leagues [the WNBA, too]. It seems like a lifetime since I left Virginia.
"I could have left the game. I'd actually lost the love of the game after I first went overseas. I just knew I had to stick it out if I was ever going to see this.""I didn't think it was possible. When I was at Virginia, I couldn't see the Olympic team bringing this kind of attention to women's basketball. I think it's going to work this time, this pro league. If it doesn't, I don't think it ever will. "It's nice to know I'm part of the team that's carrying the torch.''
It's not her first time. Staley was the last person in Philly to carry the Olympic torch on its trip to Atlanta, climbing what she called "the Rocky steps'' up to the cinematic figure's statue in front of the Philadelphia Art Museum.
At 5 feet 6, she's the smallest U.S. Olympic hoopster, but she's also the only one on a very accomplished women's team who is a two-time college player of the year.
As an Olympian in the ABL, Staley will earn the maximum $125,000. She signed a two-year contract. Every player on the women's Olympic team also has a shoe deal - Staley's is with Nike.
Ah yes, there's no place like home.
LENGTH: Medium: 94 linesby CNB