Staley Selected as Finalist for Naismith Coach of the Year Award

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Dawn Staley, head coach of South Carolina women’s basketball, has been named a finalist for the Werner Ladder Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year award for the eighth time in her career. The Atlanta Tipoff Club announced today that Staley is one of the four finalists for this prestigious honor, marking her as the only coach in the history of the award—men’s or women’s basketball—to win it four times. Notably, Staley has claimed the award for the past three seasons.

Under Staley’s leadership, the Gamecocks secured both the SEC Regular-Season and Tournament titles, sweeping both for the third consecutive season and for the seventh time in the past 11 years. After crafting the toughest schedule in the nation, as per the NET rankings, she guided South Carolina to its fourth straight 30-win season and the eighth such campaign in her 17 seasons in Columbia.

With 19 Quad 1 games—the most in the country—South Carolina has proven their strength, including six non-conference regular-season matchups. The Gamecocks also lead the nation with 16 Quad 1 wins.

In addition, South Carolina has secured 12 victories over ranked opponents, including an NCAA-best seven wins over top-10 teams. Remarkably, the Gamecocks have won these games by an average of 20 points, with only one game decided by fewer than 10 points.

Staley’s success has been driven by a collective team effort. The Gamecocks rank 11th nationally in points per game, with their leading scorer averaging just 13.2 points per game. In total, seven players average at least 7.0 points per game, and the team’s bench leads the nation in scoring at 41.5 points per game.

No. 2/2 South Carolina has earned the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Birmingham 2 Regional and made its 11th consecutive NCAA Sweet 16 appearance after a pair of wins last weekend at Colonial Life Arena. They will return to the court on Friday, March 28, against the winner of tonight’s game between No. 4 seed Maryland and No. 5 seed Alabama.

For more updates, be sure to visit GamecocksOnline.com and follow the team’s social media accounts (@GamecockWBB).

Naismith Coach of the Year Finalists:

• Mark Campbell, TCU
• Cori Close, UCLA
• Lindsay Gottlieb, Southern Cal
• Dawn Staley, South Carolina