NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL FOUR: UCONN VS SOUTH CAROLINA

April 2, 2022

Dawn Staley

Target Center

South Carolina Gamecocks

Finals Press Conference

Q. I guess I have to start with you coaching against Geno in a National Championship game. Just get it out of the way. I know you love to talk about your players and your assistant coaches and your staff and everybody else, but you know that back home everybody is going to make this one about you and about Geno and what's it going to be like for you to go up against him in a National Championship game?

DAWN STALEY: I think it's great. I think any time that you're in this position to compete for a National Championship, it's a pretty big deal; and if you have Philly ties, it's a bigger deal. And Geno has done legendary -- he has had a legendary career. He has helped our game grow. Whether people believe that or not, he has helped our game grow tremendously.

I think a lot of what we're able to do and get is off the backs of their success. I think the people up at UConn treat their women's basketball team as a sport. They're forced to because of all the winning and all the success, but you could take a page out of their book.

If you invest in it, you could end up having similar success. Actually, not even similar success. Just you could actually scratch the surface and have some success, so it's going to be cool, competitive.

Q. Even though you got to Virginia a couple of years after Geno left as an assistant, Debbie Ryan has impacted both your lives. I'm curious what you remember about -- or what you learned from her and what you take into the championship game that kind of -- memories about her and maybe what influence she's had on you?

DAWN STALEY: Debbie was great. You have coaches that come in and out of your lives. And for her, Debbie knew how to treat me as a player, meaning -- I was player from Philly. I was Philly through and through. Didn't really have the fundamentals down pat. I could play, I could pass. I've got flare to my game. I was just a hard-nosed player. One that she didn't try to contain.

She allowed me to make mistakes through trial and error. It wasn't like don't do this, don't do that. She was, like, you know, instances. Here's when you can do this, here's another option. I was one that turned the ball over, like, five times a game in my freshman year, and she never said don't make that pass anymore. She just said here are the other options you could have looked at.

I take some of my coaching to a certain degree in allowing our players to be who they are, meet them where they are, and just take them to where they want to go, and that's the mentality that Debbie was with me.

Q. You had Lindsay Whalen on an Olympic team when, I think, you were on the staff. Lindsay is going to the Hall of Fame. Wondering what you think of her induction and if you have any fond memories of working with her?

DAWN STALEY: I'm all for the point guards. Point guards, they make things happen. I did get a chance to -- I was part of the staff that Lindsay was on, and she actually was my favorite point guard. I like how she's wired. I like the fact that she's so inquisitive. She's a Hall of Famer, but the questions that she asks, the cerebral -- she needed to have a true understanding of what our coaching staff needed, and she was unafraid to ask the questions.

A lot of times people think they're just that good, they can figure things out, but she actually wanted to know and didn't have an issue voicing, asking the questions to make sure. That is why she's going to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Q. Just curious, there are -- we've obviously been talking about equity a lot, and today the teams each have 30 minutes here. Your players are going to have the same time as you are. Tomorrow the teams in the championship in the men's tournament, there's no overlap. There's about an hour availability for each team. That might be a little thing, but I'm curious what you think about things like that that still are not equal between the men's and the women's tournaments?

DAWN STALEY: Y'all have an issue with it?

Q. Yes.

DAWN STALEY: You have an issue with it? Then we have an issue with it. I think we should be available for as much time as needed. Our game needs the connection with our media, and equitable may not be an hour. It may be two hours for us. Just because of where we are in our sport.

If we want to continue to grow our game, we have to make ourselves accessible to you.

Q. First of all, Dawn, God bless you for saying that. I'm sure we would all be happy to talk to you for two hours if you want to stay up here.

I'm curious. You look around women's basketball, and a lot of the people -- a lot of the coaches who have been at the top of the sport have been there a long time, and they're older, let's say. Geno is 68. Tara is 68. Pat, obviously --

DAWN STALEY: I won't be here at 68. (Laughter).

Q. How do we fix that, though? Women's basketball coaches don't seem to be as obsessed with climbing the ladder as in the men's basketball game. People stay for a long time. Assistants stay for a long time, but there's kind of like a pipeline drought. Eventually Geno and Tara are going to retire. Gary retired this year. Vic. Where are the young coaches? Do you feel like you are holding it down for the young coaches?

DAWN STALEY: I think our future is bright. I think there are a lot of young, bright coaches out there. And here's where I have to put it back on you all. You got to go find the stories because they are out there. We just tend to go to the ones that always have been in our game a long time. Obviously, you go there because they are historians in our game. I think we -- I'm not one of them. I'm not Tara. I'm not Geno. I just think we need to make people aware and make the media aware of some of the young coaches out there. I.e., that's why I gave out pieces of the net so you'll get to know who these coaches are and why I chose them.

There are a lot of young coaches who -- and the landscape of the coaching is changing. I think Black coaches are getting more jobs now, more Power Five jobs. They have to do well because we don't really get recycled in other head coaching positions. I do think we need to bring awareness of long-time assistant coaches who haven't gotten an opportunity to head women's basketball programs. We also have to talk about Black men. They don't get opportunities, and they've been in our game a really long time. It's only in the assistant coaches role. I think we just have to open up and find out who these great coaching minds are because there's room for everybody.

I'm a Black woman, so I kind of view it through a Black woman's eyes and sight, and it's not anything against any other races, but I see. I'm an anomaly. I got into coaching, and I had no coaching experience. Somebody took a chance on me because of me being a player. There were much more experienced coaches back in 2000 that could have got the Temple job.

I think sometimes those coaches get upset, and rightfully so. I didn't want the job. There were other people out there that probably wanted the job, wanted to take Temple to higher heights, but they didn't get the opportunity to do that. We have to find them.

It's almost like those -- we're recruiters, so we want to find that gem in the back of a gym where nobody is and then you give them a platform to be great. We have to do that for the people in our game in order for us to advance them.

Q. I have a two-part question. First of all, how much did you learn or can you learn from the game you guys had in the Bahamas four months ago, which seems like forever ago, with UConn? The second part is you know how tough it is to win a championship because you're 1 for 1 on the biggest stage. UConn is 11 for 11. That seems mind-boggling that they've never lost on the biggest stage, so to speak. You know how hard it is to win one, and they haven't lost one when they had a chance.

DAWN STALEY: The Bahamas game was eons ago. What did we take it from it? We're going to watch it a little bit because I liked how we were defending, and we can compare what it looks like from back in November to what it looks like now. I think we've gotten better, but we did a pretty good job in the Bahamas.

We'll look at it just probably to get our players' juices flowing a little bit to see this is what we did. This is the kind of effort and more that it's going to take to basically dethrone Connecticut and all the things that they've done and the incredible percentage of winning when they're in a National Championship game.

What was the other part of the question?

Q. (Off microphone)

DAWN STALEY: Yeah, it's tough. It's tough. It's tough. We're 1-0, so we're 100% too. (Laughing). But it's incredible. This is our fourth time, and we only have one, so it's incredibly tough.

It comes down to UConn has had the most experience, so it doesn't faze them to be where they are. Probably a little bit different with this group because they haven't won one -- any person hasn't won one on their roster. For us, same way, haven't won one. I think we're going to duke it out. There's no edge. There's no edge.

We can talk about the numbers, but the numbers give them no edge. The numbers aren't going to give us an edge. Our season, the great season that we've had, it's not going to give us an edge tomorrow. We've got to play it. They've got to play it because we're not going to be thinking about -- he is not going to be thinking about, oh, we're 11-0. We got the 12th one in the bag. We're not going to think, oh, here's UConn. We're going to automatically win. You can't go into games thinking that way. You've got to play. And we're going to play off of this year. We're not going to play their history.

Q. How have you seen the chemistry among the guard corps develop over the course of the season or even their careers at South Carolina?

DAWN STALEY: Our guards? It's pretty competitive. We've had a combination of maybe probably eight to ten guards on breakdowns. We've got a lot of guards, and I think it's cool that they have a tight bond. They have a friendship. They have a healthy competitiveness even though probably one-third of them play the majority of the minutes.

I do think the other guards who have to sometimes be the scout team, they really get after it. Our starters and our third group -- we've got three groups of teams -- they give our starters a really hard time. Because they're young, they play with no pressure. When you have to play with no pressure, sometimes you win a lot of competitions in practice.

They've got a healthy competitiveness. They really love each other. That's why we didn't have any -- we didn't have anybody going to the transfer portal last year, more so because of the relationships and the bonds that they have amongst each other. This year might be a different story, but we're just going to play this out.

Q. Dawn, as you mentioned, you saw them in November, and I imagine that you were paying attention to them in January because you were scheduled to play them.

When you think about where they were at that time, are you surprised that they're still here, and is this maybe in your mind one of the best coaching jobs that Geno has done in a season?

DAWN STALEY: I believe so. With all the adversity, with all -- I know he had a lot of sleepless nights just trying to figure it out, and it's frustrating. You can see his frustration. You can hear his frustration. And then they beat NC State in the Elite 8, and he was full. When you are full, you get a little emotional. I think he thought about where they were. Like everybody probably had them dead in the water, but true champions figure out a way.

I think he has really had to pivot a whole lot in his career with the teams that he has had, but he pivoted. He did something a little bit different. He played the hand he was dealt, found a way to keep their head above water. And then they got Paige back. When you get her back, even if she's 70%, you got to guard her. You've got to pay attention to her.

The months that she was out, those other players, adverse moments are either going to bring you together or they're going to pull you apart. They chose to come together and play like a cohesive unit, and now it really didn't surprise me that they're here.

Q. A lot of great Hall of Fame players, even as they take to coaching, they don't necessarily have the longevity that you have. What is sustaining you? And considering all that coaching entails, would you consider yourself a better coach than player?

DAWN STALEY: That's a good question. I'm a point guard. I've always looked at the game differently than a shooting guard or a post player. I've always been able to see the big picture, and I've carried that. It doesn't matter if it's basketball or if it's just life. I'm a point guard, so we're trained to see it all. We're trained to see the big picture.

Then my people skills is one that I just try to meet people where they are. Not be judgmental. Just meet them where they are. Then I talk to them to figure out what they want, and then we figure out a plan to make that work. Sometimes when you work with young people, you let them talk. I'm not telling them what to do. I'm just listening to them.

Then they'll start asking questions. When they start asking questions, that's when you can really move the chain. So I've done that with teams that I've played as a point guard, and I've found my second skin in coaching.

Am I a better coach than I am a player? God. That's a good question. I'm probably a better coach. Probably a better coach. I say that because I've had a longer career as a coach. That's one.

Two, I think my impact is far. Like, I can make more of an impact as a coach than I did as a player. So that's your answer. (Laughing).

Q. You were talking about your guards earlier. So among that starting corps of Cooke, Beal, and Henderson, how would you describe the relationship among those three specifically?

DAWN STALEY: It's like they just know each other. They have three different personalities that just fit. They just fit. And the fact that they've played, just logged a lot of minutes together, they play like in shorthand. Like you can shorthand handwriting? They play that way out there on the court. You don't have to say much. You can just point, and they know the switch.

They can give each other looks, and they know exactly what they mean out there on the floor. I don't think the three of them hang out, though. I don't think they hang out a whole lot. I think they've got different cliques, but the chemistry that they've been able to develop on the court developed quite nicely, and they have a mutual respect for what they do and what they mean to our team.

Q. Yesterday when we spoke to the players, there was a lot of emphasis on them getting over the hump of the semifinal. One player even called it just relief to get here, but the big part of the goal is tomorrow.

You've obviously coached in this final. What do you say to the players to prepare them for this moment and how is the vibe right now with the girls?

DAWN STALEY: I say what we said all season long: Our history over their history. And it's not just -- not just UConn. It's just when we played anybody. Because when we've lost this season, it was a historical moment for our opponents. For Missouri. It was a historical moment for Kentucky. We need to choose our history. We need to choose our history. We want to imprint our history in the basketball history books.

I think we're focused. We're focused. And I'm finding out that our team isn't very good in the morning. Like, we had practice on Thursday morning. I mean, we're at the Final Four. I'm like, Yo, let's go. It was probably one of the worst practices that we've had.

Then we had a shootaround that was great. Shootaround was focused. It was clear cut, and then we executed the game plan. So, we're here early, but we're not practicing early. We practiced a little bit later, so it gives me a little bit of relief knowing that it's not at 9:00 in the morning.

Q. You're known as a straight talker, no bullshit kind of coach, and you were a player like that too. Your teammates have talked about how you were able to deliver hard truths, and your players have as well. I'm curious. Has that changed, I guess, the way you talked your teammates, the way you talk to your players now? How is that a skill that you have honed over your coaching career to deliver hose hard truths, specifically in those meetings where you tell players, you might not be playing this year?

DAWN STALEY: I'm a worst-case scenario. I will tell it from the worst side. And I just find over my career, players like it that way. They really like it. If you give a player an out, they're going to take it. Without a doubt. They're going to flip it, and they're going to see it their way.

I deal with young people's goals and dreams, and I don't take that lightly, so I just tell them how it is. I tell the parents how it is. It's the way that I have had to coach because I don't want to instill falsehoods in their heads. Because I've never -- like I've had coaches who played head games all the time, and I'm just, like, you know, that puts a wall up with me. Shoot me straight even if you hurt my feelings. Tara used to hurt my feelings all the time.

But I use it as fuel. I know all players don't use what I say as fuel, but it gets them thinking and gets them talking to their parents. It gets them hopefully working towards their goal, and I just don't like anything catching anybody by surprise.

I can say that, what you just said, but also have to just -- that you have to maintenance that. You've got to maintenance what you said because the moment you let up, they'll bring it right back to you.

I just try not to walk a fine line when it comes to -- well, I try to walk a fine line when it comes to just giving them what they need versus giving them what they want.

Q. You have an open practice for you guys later today. As a coach, I'm guessing you see both sides of it, but you have a game tomorrow night to prepare for. Also, this helps grow the game and having fans back. I would think it's a neat thing from that standpoint.

The second part is you mentioned before taking a page from UConn's book of building a program and such. When you took over the South Carolina job, is where you are right now sort of what you envisioned of leading the country in attendance every year, turning South Carolina into a women's basketball school, so to speak?

DAWN STALEY: You find when you come to the Final Fours, you get very little preparation. There's more about growing our game and being celebrated. And if it's your first time coming, you just don't know. Now that we've been here a few times, we get our work done before we get here. And then as we progress through the weekend, we figure out what's the most important thing.

We have an hour of a closed practice. We're just going to do the most important things. Then the 50 minutes that we have in our open practice, it's probably just going to be shooting and just free throws and just kind of -- I know people like to see the teams that are here, but I think our players like the experience of having people in the crowd and looking at them. They deserve that part of it. We've got to grow the game that way.

And then when I got into coaching, my number one thing was -- my number one thing was giving my players an incredible experience. Because at Temple, you can say you want to win a National Championship, but you don't really know what you're saying. You don't even know what the competition is. You don't even know -- I wasn't thinking about mid-major, the Power Five. I wasn't thinking about that. I was thinking about how I felt after my four years of college and what it's done for me, and I wanted to do it in a way to create a winning environment. Equipping our players with life lessons through playing the sport.

I would not be as successful as I am if I did not play sports because I learned all of it. I learned how to be a good friend. I learned how to work hard. I learned about what's important. I learned to prioritize. I learned -- I probably learned that there is more to life than basketball because I was all basketball. And from those experiences and then when you win, it makes you more believable, and it makes the players believe in what they put into that winning.

I have two people on our staff that were a part of my first recruiting class. My players are like my best friends now. It's that type of relationship. They're really good at what they do. They're great at what they do. I'm not a gimme coach. Like, be what you're great at, like, what you're really great at. And no, I didn't imagine that.

Then when I started just being into coaching, I wanted to win. I wanted to win the National Championship. That's why I decided to move from Temple to South Carolina because we kept losing in the first and second rounds. And I'm just -- my competitive juices said I had to get somewhere to where we can out-talent people versus outwork them. Because once you try to outwork them and they have much more talent than you do, you're going to end up losing in the first and second rounds. It's hard to get out of the first and second round without having talent.

Q. I wanted to ask, you mentioned the other day some fans had booked their tickets to Minneapolis maybe a year ago or in December. After the team is heading off to the hotel and after the crowd presence last night, what does it mean to you personally, to your players, to the program as a whole for this fan base to travel so well and to support y'all throughout?

DAWN STALEY: It's proud. It's a proud moment. I'm always really -- I think about what our team means to so many people. I know a lot of our fans. One of the nurses that cared for my sister when she had leukemia was just diagnosed with breast cancer, so she said, I got my ticket to Minneapolis. I set my surgery for after the Final Four. So she's coming here being diagnosed with breast cancer and to enjoy it before the fight that she has in front of her.

It is that versus this, too. Like, I had a FAM DM me on my Twitter account. He is like, Coach, we got to have a FAM meeting. This is him. We have to have a FAM meeting. We can't cheer when we lose our lead. We got to keep it going. We have to blow this up like it's Colonial Life Arena. This is what I get. They're all in.

I asked him, well, where are you sitting? He sends me a picture. He is way up in rafters, right? (Laughing). So they can't hear him. I said, Let me get you some tickets lower, and then you can lead the chants. Don't go near him though, y'all, because he is -- don't go near him. Don't follow him either because he -- (Laughing).

Thank you. Thank you.