Dawn Staley criticizes Trump administration’s decision to reverse college athletic revenue-sharing guidelines

In a fiery response this week, outspoken South Carolina women’s basketball head coach Dawn Staley didn’t hold back when asked about the Trump administration’s recent decision to strip Title IX protections from future revenue-sharing allocations. Describing the move as a regression for women’s sports, Staley made her stance clear, speaking with the Greenville News after Thursday’s victory over Florida.

“I don’t know if it’s a knee-jerk reaction, I don’t know if this is just a chauvinistic viewpoint, but part of this whole revenue-sharing lawsuit involving football, men’s basketball, and women’s basketball — and if they’re using women’s basketball just to push the suit across the finish line — only time will tell,” Staley told Greenville News.

She continued, emphasizing the harmful impact on progress: “But this doesn’t help the situation. I just hope campus leaders will do the right thing, which is giving women their due. We’ll never be able to be in a position of helping if we don’t get help from the decision-makers. We’re in a really good place overall, but this is going to take us back.”

This statement comes in light of the U.S. Department of Education’s recent move under Trump’s leadership to reverse Title IX guidance issued during the Biden administration. The guidance previously mandated that universities share any revenue distributed to student-athletes in a proportional manner, ensuring fair distribution between male and female athletes. A nine-page memo released by the Department of Education in January under the outgoing Trump administration reinforced the idea that Title IX applies to revenue-sharing as “athletic financial assistance.”

However, on Wednesday, Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the Department of Education, issued a statement declaring that “Title IX says nothing about how revenue-generating athletics programs should allocate compensation among student-athletes.”

Amidst the controversy, Staley continues to gain recognition for her leadership, having recently become the highest-paid coach in women’s basketball. In mid-January, she signed a new contract extension worth $25.25 million, which ensures a $4 million annual salary through the 2029-30 season. Staley also took a moment to acknowledge the support she’s received from new South Carolina Athletic Director Jeremiah Donati.

“I think our AD is figuring out what moves on this campus, what sport moves on this campus,” Staley shared. “We’re one of them, without a doubt, and I hope at the end of the day, he takes that in high consideration. He was first introduced at one of our games in a full house. So, if that’s not an indicator of where our team can be, representative of where our sport can go on this campus, we’ll have to wait and see.”

Staley’s remarks are a clear reminder of the ongoing struggle for equality in college athletics, with an eye on what the future holds for women’s sports.