South Carolina women’s basketball head coach Dawn Staley received some disappointing news on Wednesday. The No. 1 Gamecocks are gearing up for their 12th consecutive Sweet 16 appearance.
Following her success heading into this year’s NCAA Tournament, Staley failed to make the final four for the Werner Ladder Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year award.
On Wednesday, WACH FOX’s Matt Dowell reported on Staley’s snub for the Coach of the Year award.
“Dawn Staley is not one of the four finalists for Naismith Coach of the Year. She has won it four times in the past,” Dowell tweeted.
The four finalists for this year’s honor are Geno Auriemma (UConn), Cori Close (UCLA), Shea Ralph (Vanderbilt), and Vic Schaefer (Texas). Aureimma is the favorite to win the Coach of the Year award, as his team enters the Sweet 16 undefeated with a 36-0 (20-0 Big East) record.
Dawn Staley won her first AP Coach of the Year award in 2020. She then won it three times consecutively from 2022 to 2024. Since taking over South Carolina in 2008, she’s won three national championships with the program.
Last season, Staley and the Gamecocks entered the NCAA Tournament as the SEC regular-season and tournament champions. However, they failed to lift the natty after losing to Geno Auriemma and the Huskies in the season finale.
This year, the Gamecocks beat the Southern Jaguars and the USC Trojans in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. They are scheduled to face Oklahoma in the Sweet 16 on Saturday.
Dawn Staley Shares Her Thoughts on the Rematch With Oklahoma
Back in January, the South Carolina Gamecocks faced the Oklahoma Sooners for the first time this season. However, it ended with Staley’s team suffering its only SEC conference loss of the season.
Now, the Gamecocks have the chance to exact redemption in the upcoming Sweet 16 game. Before Saturday’s showdown, Staley discussed the first meeting between the two teams.
“I mean, they were on, I think, a three-game losing streak, and they wanted to win,” Staley said as per Greenville News. “I mean, it was imperative that they win the game that we played them, just for morale, just for making a run in our league. I thought they wanted it more, and they played that way. So, it was just a battle of wills, and their will was much stronger than ours in that particular game.”
The South Carolina vs. Oklahoma Sweet 16 game tips off at 5 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 28, and will be broadcast on ESPN.
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