COLUMBIA — The first time Dawn Staley ever saw Tiffany Mitchell, it was all there — the speed, the physical fitness, the intensity, the ability to play both ends of the court. She was playing against high schoolers then, but South Carolina’s head women’s basketball coach knew exactly where she was headed.
“I knew she was a pro the moment I looked at her. I just didn’t know the work ethic she put behind being a pro,” Staley said. “That’s the part a lot of people don’t really understand. You can have the talent to do it, but to actually put the work behind it — it’s twofold.