Dawn Staley talks about her heated battle with Geno Auriemma and defeating Collegiate Con in the Final Four
USA TODAY Sports’ Megan Hall asked Dawn Staley about her postgame exchange with Geno Auriemma and how her team destroyed the University in the Final Four.
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PHOENIX — South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley has the Gamecocks scheduled to play on the final day of the women’s college basketball season, but she finds it “disappointing” that the attention is elsewhere.
UW head coach Geno Auriemma has apologized to the University of South Carolina and team staff for his behavior during the Huskies’ Final Four loss to the Gamecocks. His statement was posted on social media less than an hour before Staley’s scheduled press conference ahead of Saturday’s NCAA Championship Game.
When asked if Auriemma had any personal contact with him, Staley shut down any conversation that would further hinder the team’s bid to advance to its fourth title game in five years.
“There are no distractions for me at this point. I’m focused on winning a national championship. That’s it,” Staley said. “It’s a little disappointing…I’m choosing to stick to the job at hand. At some point everything will be resolved. Today, this weekend is not one of them.”
The Shamcox put on a defensive masterclass, holding the Huskies to season lows in points and field goal percentage, ending their winning streak at 54. In the final moments of South Carolina’s 62-48 victory on April 3, Auriemma and Staley got into a heated confrontation before shaking hands after the game.
In the chaos of the melee, senior guard Raven Johnson asked his coach for a high-five, which Staley called a “classic” Johnson moment. Johnson said he didn’t know exactly why he high-fived him, but said he wanted to “calm down (Staley) right then and there.”
“Honestly, I saw her screaming, which is something she doesn’t normally do. I immediately ran to her. Well, I don’t think about Coach Staley at all,” Johnson said. “We’ve been through a lot together. She fights for each of us outside of basketball. I’ll always support her when she’s in a situation like this.”
Johnson achieved his goal. Staley said the spontaneous gesture quickly became “calming” and helped ground her. Johnson had such an influence on Staley throughout his five years at South Carolina that Staley said Johnson was “the player I’ll miss the most out of all the players I’ve coached” when the season ends within 24 hours, win or lose.
“She makes me laugh even in the most difficult of situations because she’s so innocent. She seems like a really kind-hearted young woman. Sometimes you need people around you to look at things objectively,” Staley added. “It was really calming for her. Just to break the ice of what was happening in real time.”
While life has taught Staley how to create a bubble around distractions — “I grew up in the North Philadelphia projects…215, 267, area code, so nothing can derail me or me,” Staley said — adversity shaped Gamecock and fostered a bond throughout the season.
“We went through a lot this season. It started before the season even started. We had some guys get hurt… but I think we just stuck together. When our number was called, they were ready for that moment,” Johnson said. “We didn’t let anyone into our circle. Whether it was our adversaries or people on our side, we leaned on each other. In bad times and in good times.”
The task ahead is to get one more win against No. 1 UCLA in Sunday’s national championship game. Staley said he wanted to send Johnson and his seniors off with a storybook ending, but things haven’t always worked out in recent years.
“I can’t get (2023) out of my head. Even though we went undefeated and won the championship the next year, that game still haunts me a little bit. It’s because of the guys that we played with. We didn’t get a chance to end their careers the way we were so capable of finishing,” Staley said, before adding that this year’s squad made a huge sacrifice. “We have players like that who are committed to the sanctity of the team. It means the world to me. I want that for those young women.”
Johnson will be heading into the title fight with high motivation.
“I don’t just want to win for myself. I want to win for my teammates and for Coach Staley,” Johnson said. “I want to win for South Carolina. I want to win for the guys in front of me. I just want to win.”
Johnson added, “There’s no better feeling and no better way to have a great match than to win for her.”
Contact USA TODAY national women’s sports reporter Sydney Henderson at chenderson@gannett.com and follow her at X. @CydHenderson.
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