South Carolina Basketball: Dawn Staley Is “Sick of It,” Fires Back at Geno Auriemma

"“I’m, quite frankly, sick of it.” – Dawn Staley on repeated criticism of her team“I’m, quite frankly, sick of it.” – Dawn Staley on repeated criticism of her team"

South Carolina Basketball Head Coach Dawn Staley is fed up. She is fed up with the media. She is fed up with opposing fanbases and coaches. She is fed up most of all, though, with disrespect. Staley and her players have faced significantly more criticism in recent years than any other elite team, and these complaints have ranged from play style to the way players express emotions on the court to personal insults.

For lots of reasons, certain narratives exist about Dawn Staley and her basketball program. Many of these narratives are true: the Gamecocks are consistently one of the best teams in the country, and they play a physical, emotional brand of basketball that is a direct reflection of their hard-working and tough-minded head coach. However, other narratives float around without basis in reality.

Dawn Staley was named the head coach of the struggling women’s basketball program at the University of South Carolina in 2008. Her program’s climb to the top was steady, resulting in her team establishing itself as an annual, legitimate contender in 2014. Staley’s team was doubted from then until the Gamecocks’ A’Ja Wilson-led national title in 2017. Even after winning that championship, many media members—and UConn fans, especially UConn fans—discounted the 2017 success because the Gamecocks’ NCAA Tournament run did not include a matchup with the Huskies. Undue criticism was only just beginning for Dawn Staley and her squad.

In 2018, the Gamecocks faced the ire of Missouri women’s basketball fans after a chippy game in Columbia, South Carolina. According to Tiger fans, South Carolina fans were spitting and shouting racist insults at Missouri’s players, something that the Gamecock team vehemently denied. Missouri Athletics Director Jim Sterk threw gasoline on the fire by directly accusing South Carolina’s fans and players of racist behavior. After a deeper look by both schools, the SEC, and independent investigators via a lawsuit from Staley, it was found that Sterk and Missouri’s fans were propagating inaccurate and dishonest information, and, as a means of apology, Sterk’s office wrote a $50,000 check to Dawn Staley’s Innersole Program that provides shoes to underprivileged children.

It became clear the media could not ignore the Gamecocks as just a “flash in the pan” as SEC dominance, recruiting successes, and national contention became yearly realities for the ladies in garnet and black. National attention grew, and some of that attention was less than positive. Coach Staley coaches with fire, and her teams play with similar emotions. Media outlets (almost exclusively outside of Columbia, South Carolina) have criticized this emotion as “disrespectful” to the game of basketball or “unsportsmanlike” to other teams. They’ve been called “thugs,” “prisoners,” and “streetfighters” by fans who have never met them. Even the quieter girls on the team have faced unfair treatment as National Player of the Year Aliyah Boston was not invited to ESPN’s 2022 ESPY awards show, despite being nominated for their Best College Athlete, Women’s Sports award.

Earlier this week, after Dawn Staley’s team won a tough game in Connecticut against Geno Auriemma’s Huskies, the UConn head man criticized the Gamecocks’ physical style of play. Auriemma said it was “not basketball” and claimed Staley’s players were putting bruises on his team with recklessly physical play that wasn’t properly officiated. Coach Staley was not happy with these assertions and fired back at Auriemma, stating:

“I’m, quite frankly, sick of it. Our players pick players up off the floor, they have sportsmanship, they have it all. We take this seriously, being the number one team in the country, being a team that young people look at and want to emulate. We set the example of how you do it and do it the right way. I’m not going to stand down when you’re going to denounce how we play because you’re denouncing our national championship[s], the product we put on the floor, denouncing families, our achievements. I’m not going to stand by and allow people to say that.”

Why does this South Carolina basketball team face so much verbal scrutiny and so many unkind descriptions?

For some, jealousy of the team’s success could be the motivator. The Gamecocks have established themselves as one of the best programs in women’s college basketball and, perhaps, as the best program. With elite recruiting classes making their way to Columbia year after year and an undefeated season possible in 2023, Staley and company show no signs of slowing down.

For others, sports rivalries bring out the worst in them and unfair criticism and accusations are thrown around carelessly. The complaints levied against the South Carolina basketball team almost always come after the Gamecocks beat a team. Missouri complained after losing. UConn complained after losing. As Coach Staley said, herself, no one had anything to say when the Gamecocks weren’t beating their teams.

For others, perhaps it reveals something darker within their character. Staley and her team have been labeled over the years by hurtful insults because of how they play, while other teams seem to face significantly less criticism for similar behaviors. Underlying thoughts on race and racial stereotypes could be a factor according to Staley, who said in a 2021 interview with Chantel Jennings from The Athletic that sometimes she and her team “are treated differently” than white coaches and teams made up of predominantly white players. A similarly prejudiced idea has been used to demean the Gamecocks when some sports fans criticize them for acting like high-level athletes instead of like “ladies,” a silly critique that would never be ascribed to men who play the same game in the same way; how ridiculous would it sound for a men’s basketball fan to insist that their favorite team’s players should act more like “gentlemen” than fiery competitors?

While no one can know for sure what exactly causes each and every critic to hurl harsh words toward Dawn Staley and the South Carolina basketball program, what is known is this: the Gamecocks are who they are, and they will apologize to no one for that. They will continue to hustle and play hard on the court. They will continue to serve the Columbia community and be role models to young girls who want to play basketball. They will continue to play tough-nosed basketball and win at a high level. They will continue to speak out when they feel they are treated wrongly and respond with personal accountability when they are actually wrong. But most of all, they will continue; no matter what opinions of them are out there or what obstacles stand in their way, there is no quit in Dawn Staley, and there is no quit in her team, so they will continue.

The South Carolina basketball team will put its perfect record on the line this week on the road against Auburn on Thursday and then again in a top-3 matchup with the LSU Tigers at Colonial Life Arena on Sunday.