Dawn Staley’s remarks on rival’s outburst reflect a restraint familiar to Black women

PHOENIX — Ahead of the postgame news conference following South Carolina’s 62-48 defeat of UConn in the Final Four on Friday, the attending media gathered with a buzz as they waited for the show to begin.

The anticipation, in large part, wasn’t to dissect the masterfully engineered takedown Dawn Staley and her Gamecocks had orchestrated against the undefeated Huskies, a team that had been lauded as a title favorite for the entire college basketball season. Instead, it was to discuss a moment that was poised to commandeer the best performance from a team all season.

With seconds remaining before Staley and her team could celebrate their fourth championship berth in five seasons, UConn head coach Geno Auriemma approached Staley, presumably to shake her hand. While doing so, he uttered a comment that provoked a bewildered reaction from Staley and ultimately halted the game as both coaches needed to be separated by their respective staffs.

In the press room, reporters waiting for the coach’s arrival readied themselves, anticipating a sound bite to feed the reactions trending on social media. Staley, however, wouldn’t give it to them.

When reporters asked her about the spat, Staley deferred, saying, “You can ask Geno the question. He’s the one that initiated the conversation. I don’t want what happened there to dampen what we were able to accomplish today.”

Given her reaction in the moment to Auriemma’s comment, it’s likely that Staley had more to say. Her restraint in not using the postgame news conference to further inflame the invasive storyline was a calculated choice.

Staley has always understood optics and grasped the bigger picture. She knows the weight her words carry. She also has an acute awareness, as a Black head coach, that she doesn’t only represent herself in public spaces.

Within the last decade of women’s basketball, Staley has led South Carolina to three national titles in the last nine years and six straight Final Fours, and her profile has been equal to that of the Goliathian Auriemma. The public threshold for each coach regarding what is tolerated and allowed on the sidelines and off the court, however, is unbalanced.

Auriemma’s frustration had seemingly been festering toward the conclusion of the game. In a sideline interview with ESPN’s Holly Rowe in the third quarter, Auriemma called out the officiating while targeting the physical play of South Carolina – and the behavior of Staley herself.

“There were six fouls called that quarter and all of them were on us. And they’ve been beating the s–t out of our guys the entire game,” Auriemma said. “… Their coach rants and raves on the sideline and calls the referees some names you don’t want to hear. … Come on, man, this is for the national championship.”

When asked again about the postgame interaction and Auriemma’s comments to Rowe, Staley held her position, saying, “I think that’s a question for Geno.”

Of course, to highlight Staley’s restraint is to also acknowledge the double standard that exists for Black women in this arena who constantly take the high road and the path of least resistance in times that warrant the opposite.

A season ago, Staley and South Carolina endured what was surely an embarrassing 82-59 loss to UConn in the national championship game. Staley expressed frustration with how her team showed up that night, but her frustration was never directed at the opposing bench.

When Rowe interviewed Staley ahead of the fourth quarter of that contest about what solution she had to get back in the game, she replied, “I don’t know. Tough battle for us today, but we’re going to continue to battle.”

After the loss, she credited the Huskies.

“When you can understand why you lost and when you’ve been on the other side of that three times, you understand it. You can swallow it,” Staley said. “We lost to a very, very good basketball team.”

If the roles had reversed Friday, and Staley had been the aggressor, it’s hard to believe the backlash wouldn’t have been greater than what Auriemma is receiving now. On Saturday, he issued a statement apologizing to the Gamecocks team and staff.

Should Staley have had the space to vent her frustration the way Auriemma ultimately did following her exit from Friday’s presser and continued to do even after its conclusion? Yes. Instead, Staley kept the focus on her team, on her players’ performances, and on her season, which continues on.

She did so again on Saturday when asked about the argument being the dominant storyline of the night and overshadowing her team’s win.

“Yeah, that’s a little disheartening. But at the same time, this is sports, and sometimes things like this happen,” she said. “That’s why we just want to continue to focus on our team and their ability to advance in this tournament and hopefully win another national championship.

“At some point, everything’s going to be addressed. Today, this weekend won’t be one of them.”

Staley has spoken previously about her love of the game, the root of what motivates her to coach and the culture she creates within her program. To understand the meaning it holds in her life made it ever more clear why she wasn’t going to let what occurred at the end of Friday night’s game occupy any more space in her orbit. 

The stakes are simply too high. She has overcome too much to let spats like what happened impede what she perceives as her bigger purpose.

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