South Carolina Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley has issued another call to one of her players to be better by becoming a more dominant force in the role they have. On Wednesday, Jan. 7, Staley was featured on women’s basketball reporter Claire Foley’s video on X/Twitter in which the tenured tactician was attending to media interviews during a recent practice session.
At one point in the interview, Staley was asked about second-year stalwart Madina Okot and what exactly the team and she mean when they say they want Okot to be a more dominant player. Staley then explained that it stems from Okot becoming a more confident player by finding her groove and comfort level not just during games, but even in practice and team scrimmages.
“Being dominant is a process like, you know, be better in here in practice, like be dominant in here, know what that feels like, and to have that translate over to a game. She’s a dominant rebounder. She’s got to be a dominant finisher, like she’s got to finish for us. And, that takes time because playing for us is probably a little bit different than playing for Mississippi State, so to speak,” Staley explained. (0:00)
“Where every single missed shot or miss layup or missed defensive assignment, it is scrutinized and, you know, magnified to it’s hard to keep your confidence. So for us, dominance is just to stay confident through it. Play through whatever missed shot, whatever great rebound, just play through that. No high, don’t get too high with the highs or low to lows and just maintain. And that’s more of mental strength,” she continued.
Okot is currently in her second year of collegiate basketball in the 2025-26 season, her first with coach Staley’s Gamecocks. She spent her freshman campaign with coach Sam Purcell’s Mississippi State Bulldogs in the 2024-25 campaign, in which they made it all the way to the Sweet 16 of the 2025 national tournament. Okot is hoping to help Staley’s South Carolina-based program win its fourth national title in 2026.
In Early December, Dawn Staley Had A Similar Message To Madina Okot About Being Dominant
The message of Dawn Staley to Madina Okot about her becoming a more dominant player directly stems from a similar quote she had back in early December of last year. In an article written by writer Lulu Kesin that is published on Greenville News, Staley was quoted from a post-game interview, their two-point, 79-77, victory over the Louisville Cardinals to be exact, in which she believes that with more close games, Okot can continue to grow.
“Madina has to be in more situations like this to continue to rise to the challenge. I know she’ll probably spend a lot of time beating herself up regarding the free throws…She probably doesn’t think she played well but we don’t win if she’s not on our side,” Staley was quoted as saying.
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