00:00On your feet, Don Staley, ladies and gentlemen.
00:11Good afternoon, everyone.
00:12I'd like to thank Rich and Caroline
00:15in creating this moment, because a lot of times
00:17other people have to narrate celebrations and honorings.
00:21When did you truly become comfortable
00:24and planted in your purpose?
00:26I think I've been becoming more like my mother.
00:29It's the strangest thing.
00:31My mother passed away in 2017, so I kind of miss her voice.
00:36I miss her, what she stood for, the discipline,
00:40and she can no longer speak.
00:42So I'm hopefully speaking for the voiceless,
00:46the underprivileged, the people who see me as someone,
00:50as a ray of hope.
00:51How does Title IX inform what you were able to do
00:55throughout your career to land you here today?
00:57Title IX was very beneficial to my career, so much so that I didn't really think about Title IX.
01:03I just played.
01:05Our sport is made up of Black young women,
01:07and I do think that Black young women should be coached by Black coaches,
01:14not 100%, but certainly at a high percentage, so they can see themselves in their roles.
01:21A lot of talk about paying it forward, powerful conversation about Title IX, obviously.
01:25In your estimation, how do we take this conversation and turn it into action?
01:30Not just having the conversation here, but what does this become for us as we move forward in
01:33this movement for Black women in sports in particular?
01:35Well, I think one of the things that one of the panelists said quite nicely is,
01:41it has to start on levels and being more diversified on,
01:47you go into the, you see the AD, you see the assistant or the associate ADs,
01:53you know, there's not a whole lot of diversity in that.
01:56There's nobody that can help a Black young woman navigate through this world than another Black woman.
02:03Clearly, you're a winner. You won on all levels.
02:06How do you quantify that as you continue to win? Where's the differentiation come in for you?
02:11I mean, I don't really. I just, you know, stay singly focused on what I love.
02:16I love basketball and I owe it. And the way I repay it is being that dream merchant for,
02:22for my players and young people. And I'm just doing what I'm purposely supposed to do.
02:26Being a dream merchant is really what's in my DNA. It's like to help young people getting to the WNBA
02:35or getting that job that they've wanted all their lives and equipping them with the tools to help them
02:42be successful for an infinity. That's what I get the most enjoy out of.
02:48I had a friend in college who was a Q dog. One of their sayings is,
02:54friendship is essential to the soul. And I'm going to switch it up. Black people
03:01are essential to the soul. Thank you.
03:12you
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