Social Media Roasts Dawn Staley For Throwing Tantrum During South Carolina's Blowout Loss To UConn
The UConn Huskies boat raced the South Carolina Gamecocks on Sunday afternoon to capture the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament National Championship. As expected, South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley was not a happy camper.
Perhaps viewers weren't entirely ready for just how angry Staley might get while watching her team get destroyed in front of a big audience.
Staley could be seen on the sideline losing her mind throughout the game, and she appeared to yell "F*&%" several times. One time, she even slapped herself multiple times on the forehead.
Staley isn't shy about sharing her thoughts and beliefs, as evidenced by her Final Four press conference last season when she declared that biological males should be allowed to compete in women's college basketball if they "identify" as women.
This year, she made news by complaining that Paige Bueckers, the UConn star, received too much media attention and her players deserved more of the spotlight.
Social media users tore into South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley, who melted down on the sidelines during her team's blowout loss to UConn in the National Championship.
(Nathan Ray Seebeck/Imagn Images)
Well, that looks silly considering Bueckers is now a National Champion while averaging nearly 25 points/game in the NCAA Tournament. Staley noted that last year Caitlin Clark got all the attention, even after her Gamecocks won the National Championship.
The Indiana Fever selected Caitlin Clark with the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft last year and the Dallas Wings are expected to select Bueckers with the top pick this year. This might come as a shock to Staley, but superstar players tend to get a lot of media attention. Breaking news, I know.
It seems like the South Carolina head coach wants all the attention on herself and on her own team, despite repeatedly claiming she wants to lift all women's basketball players.
Well, she got her wish on social media. People took to X to put the focus squarely on Staley and her antics during the title game.
It might be a coincidence, but it is notable that Staley complained about media coverage surrounding Bueckers and Catilin Clark, both of whom are white. That shouldn't matter, but Staley is very open when it comes to talking about "lifting black women".
The ironic part is that the star of the South Carolina Gamecocks is Dawn Staley. The reason that the media doesn't focus on her players is because they're busy propping up Staley.
If Staley really wants the attention only on her players, perhaps she might consider toning down her own personality and rhetoric so that they can get a piece of her spotlight.
Don't expect that to happen, though.