Dawn Staley Believes Only White Referees Deserve Criticism, As Her Racial Bias Continues To Show After NCAA Tournament Review

The NCAA conducted a review of the officiating that took place during the 2023 Women's National Championship game between Iowa and LSU and found that it did not meet the normal standard. Those to blame for the poor officiating are the referees themselves, of course, but South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley believes they should be given a pass because the officiating crew was made up of black and brown women.

Staley shared her thoughts on X, formerly Twitter, stating that we shouldn't "run them over" for no other reason than the color of their skin. Her opinion has nothing to do with the fact that the NCAA found that the officiating success rate in the national title game was at 88%, three percentage ticks below the historical standard.

Dawn Staley Makes Note Of Skin Color

If the officiating crew was made up of white women, Staley would have taken one of two courses of action: she would have ignored the story entirely or she would have called for better officiating crews, likely clamoring for female minorities.

Those predicted scenarios aren't just random assumptions, they're based on Staley's recent past of racially biased virtue signaling.

Take the 2023 Women's Final Four for example. Prior to South Carolina's matchup against Iowa, Hawkeyes' head coach Lisa Bluder said that trying to out-rebound the Gamecocks was like "going to a bar fight."

Those of us living in reality and possessing common sense recognize Bluder's comment not only as a commonly used phrase, but a compliment towards South Carolina.

Staley didn't see it that way, she essentially accused Bluder of being racist while inserting her own race-based agenda by blaming some media narrative she made up in her own head.

"We’re not bar fighters,” Staley said after the Gamecocks' loss to the Hawkeyes. “We’re not thugs. We’re not monkeys. We’re not street fighters.

“Some of the people in the media, when you’re gathering in public, you’re saying things about our team and you’re being heard, and it’s being brought back to me,” Staley continued.

Dawn Staley doesn't want national title referees criticized because of the color of their skin. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

Dawn Staley Ignores Facts That Don't Fit Her Narrative

Staley having her (incorrect) opinion on Bluder's comment and certain media members is one thing. But her ignoring of actual facts is another, which is exactly what she did in September 2022.

South Carolina women's basketball had agreed to a home-and-home series with BYU with the first meeting scheduled as the Gamecocks' home opener last season. Staley decided to cancel the game and future meeting after allegations of racism were made against BYU's fanbase from Duke volleyball player Rachel Richardson.

BYU found absolutely zero corroborating evidence to support Richardson's claim. The only racism found during the investigation belonged to Richardson's grandmother.

According to BYU’s investigation, the school “reached out to more than 50 individuals who attended the event: Duke athletic department personnel and student-athletes, BYU athletic department personnel and student-athletes, event security and management and fans who were in the arena that evening, including many of the fans in the on-court student section.”

Despite the school's thorough investigation, Staley refused to believe any of it after doing her own "personal research."

"I continued to stand by my position," her statement read. "After my personal research, I made a decision for the well-being of my team. I regret that my university, my athletics director Ray Tanner and others got drawn into the criticism of a choice that I made."

Dawn Staley avoids facts if it doesn't fit her agenda. (Photo by John Byrum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Staley never expanded on what she found while conducting her "personal research." One would think she'd share her findings if there was something there, but of course, there wasn't. She screamed racist before knowing any facts and couldn't dare walk back her decision to cancel games against a predominantly white school.

Staley is clearly of the opinion that she is untouchable because of her illustrious career both as a player and coach.

That may be the case inside her own bubble in Columbia, South Carolina. But her pattern of making egregiously incorrect and racist comments just for the sake of doing so is nothing other than textbook virtue-signaling behavior.

Follow Mark Harris on X @ItIsMarkHarris and email him at mark.harris@outkick.com