Dawn Staley Fights Back Against People Who Want Her Prayers 'Banned'

CLEVELAND – After winning her third National Championship, Dawn Staley proudly stood at center court and did an interview with ESPN where she praised God multiple times for granting her "uncommon favor." 

"We serve an unbelievable God," Staley said. 

Staley talks openly about her Christian faith. OutKick asked her after her team's Elite Eight victory, which came on Easter Sunday, if that win carried any additional importance. 

"Easter Sunday is pretty cool, but we all know who leads -- who's the reason for all seasons -- and we just don't celebrate the victories," Staley said last Sunday. 

"Last year, I thanked God for even the loss because I don't want to be one-sided, and to give Him the glory when it is only befitting for wins. Easter is as significant as any other day, but He is risen." 

Many of Staley's players share her faith. During the postgame news conference after her team's National Championship, Te-Hina Paopao said: "It's been a great journey, and to cap it off with a perfect season, it's just a blessing. And all glory to God for that." 

On Easter, freshman Tessa Johnson said: "I live through Christ. He lives through me. That's how I am who I am." Then, she wished the media room "Happy Easter" before departing, which was echoed by her teammate, Ashlyn Watkins. 

Clearly, this is a staple of Dawn Staley's program. But there are many people who don't like it. I've spent the past two weekends covering the women's NCAA Tournament and Dawn Staley. I am the only media member who asked her directly about her religion. 

See, the left-wing media members love Dawn Staley. They love that she talks about racism. They love that she supports transgender women (biological males) playing women's sports. 

However, they don't like that she talks about God. So, they just don't ask her about it. But, I did. Again. 

South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley during the  Women's 2024 NCAA National Championship game against Iowa.

(Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports)

After the team won the National Championship, Staley took questions from reporters They lobbed softball after softball, but never asked her about clearly the most important influence in her life. The NCAA moderator told me that I would be able to ask Staley a question, but she never called on me. Perhaps I upset the apple cart a bit with my Saturday question that made national headlines. 

Regardless, I approached the podium after Staley was done speaking and asked if she would be willing to answer just one more question, this one about her faith. Despite a South Carolina assistant insisting that she didn't have time, Staley happily answered my questions. 

She took aim at people who think she should not be allowed to pray with her team or talk to them about God. 

"I have people who think what I do on game days should be banned," she said, referencing the team prayer. "[They think] I should not be the coach because of it."

South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley is openly Christian and doesn't like that people don't want her praying with players. 

(Ken Blaze/USA TODAY Sports)

Staley made it clear that she shares her faith with her players, but doesn't make them do anything that they do not want to do. 

"I don't force anything on our players, not anything," she said. "I have [a player] that is a Jehovah's Witness. When we do our prayers and our scripture, I ask her, does it offend her? Because if it did, we would do something different." 

I also asked her if shared faith helped her create a deeper bond with her players. She said it didn't, but gave a very thoughtful reason as to why not. 

"I want their walk with God to be their own," she said. 

Dawn Staley is a complex human, as most people are. I learned a lot about her over the two weeks I spent covering her. There are things that she believes that I don't agree with. There are things she believes that I do agree with. 

One thing I firmly believe is that the media should allow her to openly talk about her faith in God, since it applauds her for speaking openly about things it agrees with.