Dawn Staley has already knocked off one former coach on the way to the Final Four, now she faces mentor Tara VanDerveer in the national semifinals.

In the Sweet 16 South Carolina faced Georgia Tech, coached by Nell Fortner, who coached Staley in the 2000 Olympics. Fortner was also an assistant to VanDerveer in 1996, one of the most important teams in US Olympic history, and an experience that shaped Staley’s professional career.

Staley had played against VanDerveer-coached teams twice, in the 1990 and 1992 Final Fours. Each time, VanDerveer’s Cardinal beat Staley’s Virginia Cavaliers in the semifinals on the way to the national championship. The second loss, which ended Staley’s college career, is still a sore spot.

“I do want Tara to get another national championship, just not like in 1992, at my expense,” Staley said.

Two years later they were reunited, not as opponents, but player and coach. They finished third at the world championships that year, but then VanDerveer took over Team USA, transforming the American team (which had also finished third at the 1992 Olympics) into a juggernaut, with Staley as her point guard. Team USA hasn’t lost an Olympic game since, and five of six World Cups, with only one loss.

“She was something special as a player, and she’s incredibly special as a coach,” VanDerveer said. “I loved coaching Dawn. As a player she really saw the game so well. She has great instincts, a great understanding of the game, she was a tremendous leader of her team, someone that’s super competitive. Whatever Dawn decided to go into, she was going to be at the top of whatever career she decided. If she wanted to be in law, be in politics, whatever it was, she has it.”

“Tara has meant so much to me,” Staley said. “As a player I played for many teams that she coached in USA Basketball.”

When Staley was offered the head coaching job at Temple, one of the first people she called for advice was VanDerveer. VanDerveer seems to recall that she was supportive of Staley going into coaching, but Staley remembers it differently

“I reached out to her 21 years ago. I told her Temple offered the job. I hope she remembers this. She said, ‘Don’t do it.’ I remember her vividly saying, don’t do it. I never asked her why, you know, or I don’t remember the why. But when she said that, it was magnetic, I said I’ve got to take this job. I need some type of chip, and I think Tara saying that gave me that chip on my shoulder to prove her wrong. She wasn’t saying it because she didn’t think I could be successful. She was saying it because she knew I was going to continue to play professionally, she was saying it because she knew the dedication and the work that goes into being a head coach because she had done it for so long. She didn’t want me to cheapen anything. I thank her, 21 years later. Making that decision has been the most gratifying decision of all. I thank her for putting that chip on my shoulder.”

VanDerveer spoke before Staley, so we couldn’t ask her about Staley’s version of events. But they met a few years later, in 2007, in the Paradise Jam.

“I remember losing,” Staley said (Temple blew a 17-point lead). “And I remember Tara asking me to come speak to her team after they beat us. That’s the kind of relationship we have. It is a game, but it’s a game in which you forge your relationships with people you’ve been in the foxhole with. I would give Tara my last, just for instilling in me things I use today. Her film sessions are a platform of learning and growing as a player. Those habits that she allowed us to make as she was coaching us are ones that I pass on to our players.”

Staley defined those habits as “simple but profound.”

“Everything that she says is relatable to a two-year old or an 80-year old,” she said.

Since Staley came to South Carolina, she and VanDerveer have coached against each other five times, with VanDerveer taking the first four. Staley has always spoken about the games against Stanford with a special reverence and used the Cardinal as a measuring stick. For VanDerveer, it has been special to see Staley rise through the coaching ranks and achieve success.

“I cheer for her every game,” VanDerveer said, “except for the game tomorrow,”