The University of South Carolina Gamecocks have officially signed their women’s basketball head coach Dawn Staley to a historical contract on Friday. The new deal not only makes her the highest paid Black head coach in her sport, but one of the highest paid women’s basketball coaches in the country.

The contract is for seven years, worth $22.4 million.

The school’s Athletic Director discussed the new partnership and the bright future ahead.

“Dawn Staley is one of the nation’s top coaches, regardless of the sport,” said South Carolina Athletics Director Ray Tanner. “She has built our women’s basketball program from the ground up, and her teams have produced champions, both on and off the floor. The ability to keep Coach Staley at the University of South Carolina is great news for all Gamecocks. I join with our fans in looking forward to seeing the great achievements her program will continue to produce in the future.”

In Staley’s 13 seasons with the school, she has made herself into a coaching icon in the NCAA Women’s basketball coaching ranks. She was National Coach of the Year in 2020 after leading the Gamecocks to a No. 1 regular season ranking before the COVID-19 pandemic. She’s also the first person ever to earn Naismith Player of the Year (’91 and ’92) and the Naismith Coach of the Year. With that, she’s a four-time SEC Coach of the Year and a two-time Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year, which she won during her time at Temple.

Under Dawn Staley’s leadership, South Carolina has dominated as a national powerhouse and one of three programs to play in at least three of the last six NCAA Final Fours (2015, 2017 and 2021). They won a national championship in 2017.

The post Dawn Staley Signs Seven-Year, $22.4 Million Contract Extension with South Carolina appeared first on SLAM.

Source link

The former seventh overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, Wendell Carter Jr. has had an interesting start to his career. Struggling to stay healthy, he’s yet to notch a season with 50 games played three years into his career.

Last season, he was traded from the Chicago Bulls to the Orlando Magic, giving him a fresh start. In 19 games with the Magic, he averaged 11.7 points and 8.8 rebounds per contest.

Ahead of the 2021-22 season, the former Duke center was eligible for an extension.

As first reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic, Carter Jr. has agreed to a four-year, $50 million contract extension with the Magic. The deal is fully guaranteed for the big man.

As Orlando continues their rebuild, Carter Jr. is a key piece at just 22 years old. After he signed very team-friendly contract, the team has plenty of flexibility to continue taking steps forward in the building out their roster.

The post Magic Sign Wendell Carter Jr. to Four-Year Extension appeared first on SLAM.

Source link

With the start of the 2021-22 regular season just days away, one of the most interesting teams is the Golden State Warriors. Among the most talented teams in the NBA when healthy, they’ve got a lot riding on this season.

During the preseason, their starting wing Andrew Wiggins missed a game due to knee soreness.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr talked Alex Didion of NBC Sports and other reporters late last week about Wiggins’ status heading into the regular season.

“He’s probably a couple weeks away from really being able to have his conditioning and rhythm where he wants it to be, and that’s fine,” said Kerr postgame on Friday. “That’s usually the case with a lot of guys as you head into the regular season, so he’ll be fine.”

Recovering from the knee soreness seems to have set Wiggins back from being in the shape he needs to be at the start of the regular season.

He was a key piece for Golden State last season, averaging 18.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per contest. The health and performance of Wiggins will be a key driver in the success of the Warriors this season.

The post Steve Kerr Says Andrew Wiggins Is Weeks Away From Full Conditioning appeared first on SLAM.

Source link