Dawn Staley to win Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at 2024 ESPYS

Dawn Staley will recieve the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at the 2024 ESPYS next month, ESPN announced Thursday.

Staley is the first solo woman to win the award since Kay Yow in 2007. Devon Still and his daughter Leah shared the award in 2015.

The head coach of South Carolina women’s basketball is being recognized for her decades-long mission to elevate women’s sports and her efforts to fight against cancer. Staley’s sister Tracy Underwood was diagnosed with leukemia in 2020, while her friend and former assistant coach Nikki McCray-Penson died after a long battle with breast cancer in 2023.

Staley organized a preseason exhibition game between South Carolina and Rutgers – where McCray-Penson coached at one time – last year to raise money for local women fighting breast cancer and their families. She has also worked to mobilize potential donors – with a focus on those in the Black community – to sign up on a bone-marrow registry, Be The Match.

Her basketball chops speak for themselves, as her team is less than two months removed from a perfect 38-0 season and her third national championship. That accomplishment came after a heartbreaking 2023 Final Four loss in Dallas and the loss of all five starters to graduation and the WNBA Draft.

Staley is one of the go-to authorities on all-things women’s basketball. Whenever discussions of equality, media rights deals and growing the game arise, she’s often looked to as the most qualified to speak on what should be done to capitalize on the sport’s booming popularity. This rise in national interest can be largely attributed to Staley, who as a player and coach has worked tirelessly to make women’s basketball what it is today.

The ESPYS will broadcast live July 11 at 8 p.m. on ABC from Los Angeles. Retired tennis legend Serena Williams will host. South Carolina is nominated for Best Team. Gamecock great A’ja Wilson is nominated for Best Athlete in Women’s Sports and Best WNBA Player.

Voting for those categories is now open and will close at 5 p.m. July 11.

Fans can vote at this link. The full list of nominees can be found here.