South Carolina has become a powerhouse under Dawn Staley’s leadership, and the three-time Naismith Coach of the Year may be having her best season yet as the Gamecocks’ head coach.
It’s been a long, long time since the South Carolina Gamecocks lost a game—nearly an entire calendar year, in fact—and it couldn’t reflect much better on their renowned head coach.
Granted, Dawn Staley is not someone who needs any introduction, nor additional feathers in her cap. The two-time NCAA champion and three-time Naismith Coach of the Year has built South Carolina into a perennial powerhouse, and these days it’s almost expected that the Gamecocks will make deep runs in the SEC and NCAA Division I Tournaments. Staley herself was named Coach of the Year in both 2022 and 2023 by Naismith, WBCA and USBWA voters.
It’s #WorldBasketballDay so help us celebrate the of the game from the time she picked up a .@dawnstaley pours into us and this sport every day ♥️ ♥️ pic.twitter.com/VskI9a8g4Y
— South Carolina Women’s Basketball (@GamecockWBB) December 21, 2023
There’s an argument to be made, however, that this season has been Staley’s best coaching performance to date. Not only are the Gamecocks undefeated—sitting at 32-0 and winning SEC regular-season and tournament championships along the way—they’ve done so after a significant roster overhaul that Staley has navigated flawlessly.
South Carolina’s statistical resume speaks for itself
First things first: Staley would be an excellent Coach of the Year candidate based solely on the Gamecocks’ record. It’s rare to see a Division I team go undefeated across an entire season, and although South Carolina still has to win the 2024 NCAA Tournament in order to join those ranks, the early returns are in Staley’s favor; there have only been nine Division I teams to run the table, and six of them have earned their respective coaches Coach of the Year honors from the Naismith panel (Geno Auriemma in 1995, 2002, 2009 and 2016, Pat Summitt in 1998 and Kim Mulkey in 2012).
You know the @dawnstaley is Coach of the Year … 3rd straight season! pic.twitter.com/Zd1tEe91wp
— South Carolina Women’s Basketball (@GamecockWBB) March 5, 2024
The 32-0 record the Gamecocks currently boast only begins to express their dominance. According to Her Hoop Stats, South Carolina leads the nation in efficiency differential, outscoring its competition by an average of 39.3 points per 100 possessions. It’s the second-highest net rating of Staley’s tenure at South Carolina, exceeding that of her championship-winning teams in 2017 and 2022. Make no mistake about it, Staley’s Gamecocks are not just winning—they’re winning big. And by that criterion, her name should be front and center in any Coach of the Year conversation.
Staley’s reloading has kept the Gamecocks on top
What truly tips the scales in Staley’s favor, though, is the relative lack of continuity she’s done this with. Last year, South Carolina saw five of its players (Aliyah Boston, Zia Cooke, Laeticia Amihere, Brea Beal and Victaria Saxton) get drafted to the WNBA, speaking to just how stacked with talent that team was—and how difficult it would be to replace. Boston, in particular, will go down as one of the greatest players to ever don a South Carolina uniform, while Amihere and Saxton were crucial pieces to the Gamecocks’ frontcourt depth. Beal, meanwhile, was the team’s top perimeter defender, and Cooke its most prolific outside shooter.
Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images
The players Staley brought in since then have been more than up to the challenge. Te-Hina Paopao has proven to be a superb leader in her first season since transferring from Oregon (her 47.1 percent 3-point accuracy doesn’t hurt, either), and freshman MiLaysia Fulwiley regularly shows what made her ESPN’s No. 13 recruit in the class of 2023. Fulwiley’s skill with the basketball was on full display during the 2024 SEC Tournament, when she won Most Valuable Player honors—surely just a glimpse into the stardom that awaits her.
The Gamecocks’ returning players have stepped up, too. Kamilla Cardoso, now the center of attention in the frontcourt, is averaging career-bests across the board (14 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game) and has been mentioned as a possible WNBA Draft lottery pick. Guards Raven Johnson and Bree Hall complement Paopao’s steadiness with length and explosion, and together they form a starting trio that’s as exciting as it is dynamic. Staley has let her athletes do what they do best, transforming a Gamecocks offense that was once largely paint-bound into one that gets up and down the court with ease (74.7 possessions per 100 minutes; 91st percentile).
Staley has always been able to recruit, and she’s turned South Carolina into a popular destination for transfers in recent years. Neither of these points are in question. What stands out, however, is how quickly the melting pot of talent she’s created has come together. Staley has essentially overcome losing an entire starting lineup by changing what was a tried-and-true, championship-winning offensive formula, and the results speak for themselves; she’s put on a masterful display of coaching in 2024, and it has her program looking like a favorite to win yet another Division I title.
