WHAT IS COLLEGE SIGNING DAY?
To experience what happens at College Signing Day, click here
To experience what happens at College Signing Day, click here
On Wednesday, May 1st, the School District of Philadelphia will host the 2019 College Signing Day at Temple University’s Liacouras Center. Students from across Philadelphia’s public, private, charter, and parochial schools are invited to attend.
College Signing Day is an event hosted every year by former First Lady Michelle Obama via her Reach Higher Initiative. The School District of Philadelphia, in partnership with local community organizations and institutions of higher education will host the 5th Annual #ReachHigherPhilly College Signing Day. This year is Philadelphia's 5th time participating and we are thrilled to take part in a network of over 1,200 events nationwide!
The purpose of this event is to honor the Senior High School Class of 2019 from local public, charter, and parochial schools who are pursuing a post-secondary education and to celebrate the next chapter in their lives as a college students. Students across the city will meet up and meet their committed institutions of higher education and their future classmates.
With an expected attendance of over 8,000 college-bound students, the atmosphere at the Liacouras Center is expected to be charged with excitement by an event which mirrors a pep-rally, acknowledgement of attending schools, and scholarships.
If you are an individual or organization who is interested in this movement, please contact [email protected]
2019 Keynote Speaker
Dawn Staley
University of South Carolina Basketball Coach
Murrell Dobbins High School Alumna
Catapulting South Carolina into the national spotlight, Dawn Staley has made the Gamecocks a mainstay in the battle for SEC and national championships. In 2017-18, she capped her first decade in Garnet and Black by leading her team to its fourth-straight SEC Tournament title, the first four-peat champion in league history, and celebrating the program’s first National Player of the Year and No. 1 WNBA Draft pick in A’ja Wilson. The Gamecocks went on to sign the first No. 1 recruiting class in program history, landing four of the nation’s top 13 prospects in the Class of 2019.
Staley’s 11 seasons at the helm of the Gamecocks includes:
• 2017 NCAA National Championship
• 131 consecutive weeks ranked in the AP Top 25, including 63 weeks in the top five
• Seven 25-win seasons, including three 30-win campaigns led by a school-record 34 victories in 2014-15
• Four SEC regular-season championships (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017)
• Four SEC Tournament titles (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018)
• Five NCAA Attendance titles, averaging over 10,000 fans each season (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)
Even at the height of her coaching career, Staley is still recognized for her body of work as a one of the most decorated participants in U.S. women’s basketball history. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame solidified that legacy with her enshrinement as part of the Class of 2013 after her 2012 induction into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
In her 19 seasons as a head coach, Staley has amassed a 445-177 (.715) record, including her 273-97 (.738) slate in her 11 seasons at South Carolina. She has led her teams to nine 25-win seasons, a total of 16 postseason appearances (two WNIT) and 91 weeks in the Associated Press top 10, including 12 in the No. 1 spot. Also a force in USA Basketball, she was named the U.S. Women’s National Team head coach for 2017-20, already leading the U.S. to 2018 FIBA World Cup gold to earn USAB National Coach of the Year honors. Prior to that appointment, Staley led three other U.S. teams to gold medals – 2015 FIBA U19 World Championships, 2014 FIBA U18 Americas Championship, 2007 Pan Am Games – and served as an assistant on the Senior National Team 2006-08 and again 2014-16, during which the U.S. claimed gold in the 2014 FIBA World Championship and the 2008 and 2016 Olympics.
At the helm of the Gamecocks over the last 11 seasons, Staley has been named National Coach of the Year (2014, Basketball Times), a Naismith National Coach of the Year Finalist (2014, 2015, 2016), SEC Coach of the Year (2014, Coaches and AP; 2015, Coaches; 2016, Coaches and AP) and BCA Female Coach of the Year (2012). She became the fastest coach to 200 wins in program history, needing just 277 games at South Carolina to reach the plateau.
Under Staley’s leadership, five Gamecocks have collected 10 All-America selections, two have picked up five SEC Player of the Year honors, two have earned SEC Defensive Player of the Year recognition a total of three times, one has been the SEC 6th Player of the Year and five were named SEC Freshman of the Year. She has coached 15 Gamecocks to All-SEC honors a combined 29 times, including 12 first-team selections, and six Gamecocks have been selected in the WNBA Draft in the last four seasons, including 2018 No. 1 pick A’ja Wilson who went on to earn WNBA Rookie of the Year honors a year after Allisha Gray became the first Gamecock to capture the honor in 2017. Two other Gamecock draftees earned WNBA All-Rookie Team honors as well.
On Staley’s watch, the Gamecocks are enjoying the most sustained success in program history. After posting back-to-back 25-win seasons in 2011-12 and 2012-13 for the first time in more than 30 years, the 2014-15 team broke the school record with 34 wins. South Carolina won more SEC games than the season before in each of her first seven seasons, culminating in the 2015-16 team recording just the second 16-0 conference record in league history. Staley’s 122 SEC wins account for 65.6 percent of the program’s total 186 wins over its 27 seasons in the league. She has delivered the only SEC championships in program history, and she has helped the Gamecocks to eight of the program’s nine top-four finishes in the SEC. Off the court, Staley’s Gamecocks have been active in the community and thriving in the classroom. Every student-athlete who completed her eligibility under Staley at South Carolina has graduated or is on track to graduate.
Staley’s 11 seasons at the helm of the Gamecocks includes:
• 2017 NCAA National Championship
• 131 consecutive weeks ranked in the AP Top 25, including 63 weeks in the top five
• Seven 25-win seasons, including three 30-win campaigns led by a school-record 34 victories in 2014-15
• Four SEC regular-season championships (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017)
• Four SEC Tournament titles (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018)
• Five NCAA Attendance titles, averaging over 10,000 fans each season (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)
Even at the height of her coaching career, Staley is still recognized for her body of work as a one of the most decorated participants in U.S. women’s basketball history. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame solidified that legacy with her enshrinement as part of the Class of 2013 after her 2012 induction into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
In her 19 seasons as a head coach, Staley has amassed a 445-177 (.715) record, including her 273-97 (.738) slate in her 11 seasons at South Carolina. She has led her teams to nine 25-win seasons, a total of 16 postseason appearances (two WNIT) and 91 weeks in the Associated Press top 10, including 12 in the No. 1 spot. Also a force in USA Basketball, she was named the U.S. Women’s National Team head coach for 2017-20, already leading the U.S. to 2018 FIBA World Cup gold to earn USAB National Coach of the Year honors. Prior to that appointment, Staley led three other U.S. teams to gold medals – 2015 FIBA U19 World Championships, 2014 FIBA U18 Americas Championship, 2007 Pan Am Games – and served as an assistant on the Senior National Team 2006-08 and again 2014-16, during which the U.S. claimed gold in the 2014 FIBA World Championship and the 2008 and 2016 Olympics.
At the helm of the Gamecocks over the last 11 seasons, Staley has been named National Coach of the Year (2014, Basketball Times), a Naismith National Coach of the Year Finalist (2014, 2015, 2016), SEC Coach of the Year (2014, Coaches and AP; 2015, Coaches; 2016, Coaches and AP) and BCA Female Coach of the Year (2012). She became the fastest coach to 200 wins in program history, needing just 277 games at South Carolina to reach the plateau.
Under Staley’s leadership, five Gamecocks have collected 10 All-America selections, two have picked up five SEC Player of the Year honors, two have earned SEC Defensive Player of the Year recognition a total of three times, one has been the SEC 6th Player of the Year and five were named SEC Freshman of the Year. She has coached 15 Gamecocks to All-SEC honors a combined 29 times, including 12 first-team selections, and six Gamecocks have been selected in the WNBA Draft in the last four seasons, including 2018 No. 1 pick A’ja Wilson who went on to earn WNBA Rookie of the Year honors a year after Allisha Gray became the first Gamecock to capture the honor in 2017. Two other Gamecock draftees earned WNBA All-Rookie Team honors as well.
On Staley’s watch, the Gamecocks are enjoying the most sustained success in program history. After posting back-to-back 25-win seasons in 2011-12 and 2012-13 for the first time in more than 30 years, the 2014-15 team broke the school record with 34 wins. South Carolina won more SEC games than the season before in each of her first seven seasons, culminating in the 2015-16 team recording just the second 16-0 conference record in league history. Staley’s 122 SEC wins account for 65.6 percent of the program’s total 186 wins over its 27 seasons in the league. She has delivered the only SEC championships in program history, and she has helped the Gamecocks to eight of the program’s nine top-four finishes in the SEC. Off the court, Staley’s Gamecocks have been active in the community and thriving in the classroom. Every student-athlete who completed her eligibility under Staley at South Carolina has graduated or is on track to graduate.