Caitlin Clark has become the most popular player in the WNBA, and it was Dawn Staley and the South Carolina Gamecocks who stopped her from winning an NCAA national championship in 2024. Despite this national championship victory over the soon-to-be Indiana Fever star, Staley herself has been all praises for Clark.
In her appearance on the “Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce” YouTube channel, Staley spoke about coaching against Caitlin Clark, and she admitted that matchup against Iowa in the 2024 finals was a very tough one.
“She’s involving her teammates in a way that it doesn’t it doesn’t quite add up,” Dawn Staley told host Kylie Kelce. “We can’t produce enough points like they can and it’s probably easy points, they’re probably layups, those 12 assists are probably layups.” (29:32)
“They’re not, you know, three-point shots because we could defend that,” she added. “It’s hard to defend a layup in transition when she’s picking you apart when they’ve created an advantage in transition, so we try to really concentrate on those areas, so yes, I think she’s quite incredible quite an anomaly when it comes to how many eyeballs that she’s bringing on the game.”
She then spoke about those new fans that Clark has been bringing to the game, noting that a lot of them get mad whenever the Indiana Fever star gets criticized.
“The newness of those eyeballs only want her to do well, only want you to speak very highly of her, only you know want you to agree with what they agree with and that’s kind of hard when when we are critics to to everyone that plays the game, we’re critics to it. It’s a part of the fabric of sports,” she said.
Dawn Staley also points out what Caitlin Clark often does wrong during games
As the coach behind the team that crushed Caitlin Clark’s national title hopes, Dawn Staley knows a thing or two about finding the former Iowa star’s weaknesses. She talked about it with Kylie Kelce.
“You want to highlight Caitlin Clark for what she does well. But if you are her opponent, you want to zero in on the things that she doesn’t do well, right?” she said. “Like, you know, she’s a risk-taker when it comes to passing the ball. So she’ll turn the ball over some. And that’s a great thing if you’re her opposition and her opponent.”
Staley’s Gamecocks defeated Clark and the Hawkeyes for the national championship 87-75. This is despite Clark dropping 30 points in that final game.
College Sports Network has you covered with the latest news, analysis, insights, and trending stories in football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, and baseball!
