COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) -
USC women's basketball coach Dawn Staley has Olympic memorabilia displayed all over her office.
She was the point guard for the US women's Olympic basketball team in 1996, 2000 and 2004.
"There's nothing like winning a gold medal and having that ribbon placed around your neck and hearing your national anthem being played," said Staley.
But Staley said her favorite Olympic memory is not what happened on the court. In 2004 she was selected to carry the Olympic flag during the opening ceremony in Athens."
"I still to this day I don't really believe that it took place and believe that I was voted that," she said.
Staley was the captain of the 2004 basketball team. She was voted to carry the flag by the captains of all the other US teams.
"It was nerve racking," Staley recalled. "They gave me strict instructions: not to dip the flag. You had to keep it straight. You had to hold it and you had to smile all at the same time."
"And then they also said 'we don't know what kind of reception the USA will get when we walk in, so whether we're booed, hissed or cheered.'"
"Fortunately everybody went wild," said Staley. "When we were called out into the stadium, The United States of America, it was an incredible feeling that came over me."
Staley said the 1996 squad that won gold in Atlanta is the favorite of her three Olympic teams.
"We actually practiced a year prior to those Olympic games and we were together and we just formed this sisterhood," she said.
"We cried, we laughed we worked hard. A lot of sweat that went into it and we were just a cohesive group and nothing was going to deny us from winning the gold medal on our own American soil."
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USC women's basketball coach Dawn Staley carries flag in 2004 Olympics
