Dawn Staley and Cori Close shared a handshake and a hug before the start of the NCAA championship final on Sunday. The two coaches exchanged a warm embrace, after which Dawn Staley shrugged her shoulders and made a hand gesture that seemingly mocked the incident with Geno Auriemma two days earlier.
NCAA journalist Meghan L. Hall captioned the X post:
“Dawn Staley and Cori Close hugged just a moment ago and exchanged pleasantries. Staley looked around after to people on the bench, like, ‘See?'”
A massive controversy ensued when Auriemma’s UConn faced Staley’s South Carolina in the Final Four on Friday. South Carolina took their revenge over the Huskies for last year’s NCAA title game. Staley completely outcoached Auriemma in the 62-48 win.
However, during a timeout in the third quarter, Geno ranted over Dawn’s apparent misbehavior with referees, South Carolina’s rough physical play, and Sarah Strong’s ripped jersey. This anger and frustration got the better of Geno, and he created a ruckus during the post-game handshake.
Dawn was visibly hurt and teary-eyed. Her emotions were running high between the heated exchange with Geno and advancing to the NCAA final. Staley revealed that Geno accused her of not doing the pre-game ritual handshake with him. She said she had no idea what she had done wrong and claimed that she did shake hands with the UConn bench. Ahead of the NCAA final, Dawn Staley made sure there was no error from her side.
Dawn Staley downplays Geno Auriemma’s apology
After doubling down on his actions after the game, Geno Auriemma apologized to the Gamecocks. UConn’s X account posted coach Auriemma’s apology.
“There’s no excuse for how I handled the end of the game vs. South Carolina. It’s unlike what I do and what our standard is here at Connecticut. I want to apologize to the staff and the team at South Carolina. It was uncalled for in how I reacted. The story should be how well South Carolina played, and I don’t want my actions to detract from that. I’ve had a great relationship with their staff, and I sincerely want to apologize to them,” Geno’s apology read.
Dawn Staley was asked about it, and she was unmoved. She suggested that even though UConn publicly posted about Geno’s apology, she did not want to focus on that.
She said she wanted no distractions before the NCAA final and refused to discuss the incident at all. She also said that it was disheartening to continue this conversation amid South Carolina’s chance at a national championship.
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