She Hoops

Dawn Staley leads South Carolina to title

April 8, 2024
Dennis J. Freeman

(News4usonline) – Greatness speaks for itself. For head coach Dawn Staley and her South Carolina women’s basketball team, the word great will always be tagged along with what they achieved during the 2023-2024 season. And they did it their way.

“I’m super excited to share this moment with our team,” Staley said after South Carolina beat Iowa in the national championship game. “They are incredible human beings and young people who trusted, believed and figured out a way to help each other, learn and grow, and ultimately become champions.”

The Gamecocks believed in what Staley was telling them all season. The journey for Staley and South Carolina took place months ago with sweat and wrapped up with a celebration. To do what Staley and South Carolina did is remarkable.

When people discuss lifting women’s basketball to another level, LSU and Angel Reece did it last season. Without question, Staley and South Carolina winning the national title and staying undefeated for the entire season is another example of this type of greatness.

You don’t go out and win 38 games straight (38-0) without greatness being attached to your name. You can go ahead and put that label right next door to Staley and South Carolina’s legacy.

“It means a lot to do it with this group of girls,” South Carolina guard Raven Johnson said. “If you guys would have seen us, just the stuff we went through in the summer and the hard work we put in, we deserve this honestly. Coach, she gives us so much leeway. She let us be loose. She just let us be who we are. It’s just so much stuff that we go through.”

In last year’s Final Four, it was Iowa that was doing all the smiling and celebrating after beating the Gamecocks. A year later, Staley and South Carolina are now the ones smiling after beating Iowa, 87-75, to win the national title.

Johnson talked about what it’s been like playing for Staley.

“The GOAT, you mean the Dawn Staley? It means a lot just to play — just to learn from her,” Johnson remarked. “She’s like a mom. I mean, I don’t know, I go to her about everything. I could joke around with her. I could do anything, just anything.”

“She’s like a mom, like a home away from home. It’s a home-away-from-home feeling.” There’s no better way to have a coach like her and be so comfortable around her. And I take pride in what she do for us, on and off the court, not just basketball,” Johnson added.

Te-Hina Paopao echoed her teammates’ thoughts about Staley.

“Man, she’s so important to have in people’s lives. She’s amazing,” Paopao said. “God has put her in my life, and she’s impacted it so much, not only me, but my family. She changes lives for the better. I wish you guys could experience that and just how much she’s helped me as a player and as a woman.”

The accolades can’t come enough for Staley. South Carolina. The Gamecocks are the 10th women’s basketball team to go unbeaten in a season. This is the third national title the Gamecocks have won under the watchful eye of Staley. This championship, however, carried a little bit more weight to Staley than the other two, she said.

“Well, it was emotional for me because of how it ended last year. I’ll leave that there,” Staley quipped. “And I was emotional at the beginning of the game because I didn’t want what happened last year to happen this year. So I was handling things in real time, not afterwards.”

“I’m going to move to handling things in real time and not having to wait until there’s an ending that shouldn’t be. I was like that throughout the entire season, but for this one I wasn’t going to allow what I felt happened to us last year to happen this year. So I had a little bit of PTSD, and I addressed it in real time. I mean, it’s heavy, it’s heavy. You carry the burden of every single one of your players, all the coaches and staff members that put so much into our team. And it’s a heavy load to be undefeated, to finish the job,” Staley added.

Staley and the Gamecocks started off dominating the SEC Conference and concluded with an unblemished mark, going 16-0.

South Carolina went undefeated in conference games while they battled and played against formidable opponents like Angel Reece and LSU. Staley and the Gamecocks rolled through one opponent after another throughout the season.

Then came the NCAA Women’s Tournament. It proved no different. Staley and South Carolina pushed right on through, advancing to the Final Four. South Carolina took care of business against North Carolina State before reaching the title against Iowa.

Another challenge. Another obstacle standing in the way of greatness. Individual achievement is wonderful, but winning a championship is what you’re measured by in team sports. South Carolina has a group of talented individuals who came together collectively as a team to make all of their dreams come true, and that is to win a national championship.

Staley views herself as a caretaker. She is going to make sure things are done right. The success she and South Carolina have achieved on and off the court can be attributed to doing things decently and in order.

“Well, it means that we have quietly done things, in my opinion, the right way,” Staley said. “We find the right pieces to help us. We really do things the right way. We’re very disciplined in how we approach basketball.”

She continued, “I am one that, I’m forever indebted to basketball, so I’m always going to take care of it. I’m always going to make sure that our players are respectful. I’m always going to make sure that they know the history of our game. I want to make sure they are always respectful to our opponents.”

Top Image Caption: South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley during the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament between the Tennessee Volunteers and the South Carolina Gamecocks March 9, 2024 at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C. (Photo by John Byrum/Icon Sportswire)

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