The two prominent coaches in Women’s College Basketball meet in Sunday’s NCAA Division in Women’s Basketball National Championship Game.
Geno Auriemma has coached Uconn for 11 national titles, while South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley has led Gamecocks to three championships – including the 2024 title. Uconn and South Carolina are fighting for the Championship in 2025 in Tampa, Florida, later Sunday.
Staley is one of College Basketball’s high profiled numbers, and she has often shared her thoughts on the question that the sport had to contend with at a given time. In the midst of Gamecocks’ persecution of back-to-back national titles, Staley talked about the tales of Uconn star Paige Bueckers as it relates to the framework of Women’s College Basketball.
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Head coach Dawn Staley of South Carolina Gamecocks under the Texas Longhorns game at NCAA SemiFinal Game in Amalie Arena on April 4, 2025 in Tampa, Florida. (Ben Solomon/NCAA -Photos via Getty Images)
Staley pointed out the stories about the former Iowa Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark as she talked about the conversations currently thrown around BUECKERS.
Clark’s individual results during her rise to star status in the last few years dominated media coverage. Clark was largely and in some cases exclusively credited women’s basketball’s steep increase in popularity.
Uconn star Paige Bueckers’ lack of popularity in Tourney has a race component of what ex-nba player suggests
As he talked about the Bueckers and the pursuit of his first career championship, Staley suggested that there was a tendency to forget the tale of what (South Carolina players) has been able to do, go for their third (national championship) of four years. “
Main coach Dawn Staley of Gamecocks movements under the Georgia Lady Bulldogs game at Colonial Life Arena on February 18, 2024 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)
“Sometimes we create these stories about good players – Caitlin was one of them; Paige is one of them right now – and we tend to forget the story of what our children have been able to do, to go in their third in four years,” Staley said during a press conference on Saturday.
“There’s a sentimental narrative about Paige. A Great Freakin ‘Player. Anyody Would start their franchise with paige because of her efficient way of playing, because she’s a winner, because she cerebrally just knows the game, just has an aura about here. Wnba Draft.
“And she’s a great player, but just because you’re a good player doesn’t mean you need to win the national championship to legitimize it. Paige is legitimate. She was legitimate from the moment she stepped on this step or before, in Minnesota. Her career is legendary. She will leave a legacy on Uconn, whether she wins one or not.”
Staley then pointed to South Carolina’s experience during last year’s race to the national title.
“I just want to put it out there. I can’t address it because it happens. It happened to us last year. Everything was about Caitlin Clark and her inheritance and her ability to win a national championship. Still, we got into this thing undefeated and did something that is unprecedented at the time because it’s hard. It’s hard. We find ourselves in a similar situation.”
Uconn -vagt Paige Bueckers passes the ball during the Sweet 16 game against Oklahoma, Saturday, March 29, 2025, in Spokane, Washington. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Staley then expressed his hope of a more balanced approach.
“I want the emotions to be about our players and what our players have been able to – just as because there is room to do both,” she said. “We can raise Paige up because she deserves it and bred our players because they deserve it. And that’s not talked about enough. There’s room for it in our game. Room to Jose. Room for our games so we are all covered. Let’s not choose a story, one’s story over another program’s story. Let’s not choose a player for another player’s story because we all create history for our games.”
On Saturday, ESPN included quotes from Staley’s media session in an article covering the BUECKERS tale. The network’s women’s hangers X, formerly known as Twitter, account, also shared a post with a link to the story.
“Dawn Staley says tale of Paige Bueckers and her quest to win a title has overshadowed South Carolina’s feats,” read the post on X. Staley questioned how her comments were presented and responded to the post. “Lies! Fix your headline please!” South Carolina wrote on X.
South Carolina was unbeaten last season and defeated Clark and Hawkeyes in the championship. Iowa also came briefly in 2023 national title game when LSU dominated Hawkeyes in that year’s title game.
Iowas Caitlin Clark during the LSU game at the American Airlines Arena Dallas. (Greg Nelson /Sports Illustrated Via Getty Images)
Clark never won a championship during his college career. Nevertheless, she is widely regarded as one of Women’s College Basketball’s greatest players – which seems to speak to Staley’s point that Boecker doesn’t have to “win the national championship to legitimize” a player’s greatness.
South Carolina and Uconn Tip at. 15.00 one in Amalie Arena.
