"An Honor Worth Bearing."

South Carolina’s women’s coach [Dawn Staley] just keeps adding hardware to her crowded mantle. She was a two-time national player of the year at Virginia and a five-time all-star in the WNBA. She tops the Temple women’s program in wins as a coach. She owns three Olympic gold medals as a player.

There is one honor, though, that trumps all those.

Staley led the United States contingent into Olympic Stadium four years ago in Athens, Greece. She was the first basketball player to carry the flag. She became the 20th athlete to carry the U.S. flag since the tradition began for the 1908 Games. She joined the company of such luminaries as Rafer Johnson (1960) and Evelyn Ashford (1988).

“It was incredible because you don’t dream about that,” Staley says. “You dream about being an Olympian, winning the gold medal, graduating from college, but never in a million years of being a flag-bearer for the Olympic team.”