South Carolina’s Dawn Staley wins Jimmy V Award at ESPYS. ‘I have a job to do’
Dawn Staley waltzed toward the ESPYS stage Thursday night clad in chic black Louis Vitton and homemade beaded necklaces. As she made her way down the aisle, icons of the sports world and other celebrities rose to give her a standing ovation. She was there to accept the prestigious Jimmy V Award for Perseverance, becoming the first individual woman to win the award since Kay Yow in 2007. After cracking a joke about having to wear readers to see the teleprompter and expressing her gratitude, she quickly confessed to suffering from impostor syndrome.
“Past recipients of the Jimmy V Perseverance Award have faced incredible challenges and proven themselves as true warriors,” Staley said in her acceptance speech. “I have merely been a spectator to such immense courage and resilience.” But it was clear to everyone in the room and those watching Staley on TV why she was being honored Thursday night. Her own personal triumph as a girl from the projects of Philadelphia turned one of the game’s greatest basketball coaches. Her lifelong mission to elevate women’s sports. And her efforts to fight against cancer. “It’s the fight for me,” Staley said. “The unwillingness to give up or to quit. I think that’s why I stand here today.”
Staley’s sister Tracy Underwood was diagnosed with leukemia in 2020, while friend and former assistant coach Nikki McCray-Penson died in 2023 after a 10-year battle with breast cancer. Last week marked the one-year anniversary of her death. The beaded necklaces Staley wore — which she did throughout the 2023-24 women’s basketball season — were made by a young girl named Blakely currently fighting cancer. Last year Staley organized a preseason exhibition game between South Carolina and Rutgers — where McCray-Penson also served as an assistant coach — to raise
money for local women fighting breast cancer and their families. She has also worked to encourage potential donors — with a focus on those in the Black community — to sign up on a bone-marrow registry, Be The Match.
