South Carolina Basketball: Dawn Staley named Naismith finalist
By Kevin Miller
A few weeks ago, Dawn Staley was named a semifinalist for the Naismith National Coach of the Year Award. The semifinal list of 15 coaches put out by the Atlanta Tip-Off Club now has been trimmed to a final list of just four candidates. Kenny Brooks from Virginia Tech, Teri Moren from Indiana, and Lynne Roberts from Utah are the other coaches nominated as finalists for the honor.
Coach Staley has won the award two previous times, including last year during her Gamecocks’ second national championship season. Now, with an undefeated season and back-to-back titles in play, she should be a slam dunk to win the award again. No undefeated coach has ever been passed over for the award except for Geno Auriemma, but it was not his first time going undefeated when he was snubbed.
Over 50% of seasons since the creation of the award, the national championship-winning coach has won the Naismith National Coach of the Year Award. Combining this with an undefeated season and the high-profile name “Dawn Staley,” and the South Carolina basketball coach should be the clear winner. She would become just the fifth coach to win the award three times, joining Geno Auriemma, Pat Summitt, Tara VanDerveer, and Muffet McGraw.
Brooks (Virginia Tech), Moren (Indiana), and Roberts (Utah) have never won the award. On the men’s side of the college game, Matt Painter (Purdue), Kelvin Sampson (Houston), Shaka Smart (Marquette), and Jerome Tang (Kansas State) are the four finalists for Coach of the Year.
Fans can vote for all of the college basketball awards, including Coach of the Year, at naismithfanvote.com. Fans can also use the same link to vote for their National Player of the Year (and support Gamecock forward Aliyah Boston).
The Gamecocks will play in the Sweet Sixteen on Friday, March 25th in Greenville, South Carolina’s Bon Secours Wellness Arena. They will be taking on the UCLA Bruins. Gametime has not yet been decided.