Two outstanding coaches in the women’s college basketball game will meet at the NCAA Class I Women’s Basketball National Championship Game on Sunday.
Geno Auriemma has Coach UConn Reaching 11 national titles, while South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley led the Premier League game to three titles, including the 2024 championship. UConn and South Carolina will compete for the 2025 championship in Tampa, Florida, later Sunday.
Staley is one of the high-profile figures in college basketball, and she often shares her thoughts on any issues the sport may compete with at a given moment. As Gamecocks pursues a back-to-back national championship, Staley spoke about the narrative surrounding UConn star Paige Bueckers, which is linked to the women’s college basketball framework.
Click here for more sports reports on FoxNews.com
Gamecocks, South Carolina, head coach Dawn Staley during the Texas Longhorn game in the NCAA semifinals at Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida on April 4, 2025. (Photo by Ben Solomon/NCAA via Getty Images)
Staley points to the narrative surrounding the former Iowa Hawkeye star Caitlin Clark When she talks about the conversations currently taking place around Bueckers.
Clark’s personal achievements in the rise of the past few years have dominated media reports. Clark is largely in a big way, and in some cases, Clark attributes merely to the dramatic popularity of women’s basketball.
When it comes to Bueckers and pursuing her first-professional title, Staley suggests there is a tendency to “forget the narrative of what (South Carolina players) are able to do, earning their third (national title) in four years.”
Gamecocks Gesture Head Coach Dawn Staley was held at Colonial Life Arena during the Georgia Ladies Bulldog game in Columbia, South Carolina on February 18, 2024. (Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)
“Sometimes we create narratives about great players – Caitlyn is one of them; Page is one of them now – we tend to forget narratives about what our kids do, finishing third for the third time in four years,” Staley says At Saturday’s press conference.
About Page. A great player. Anyone starts their franchise because she is the winner because she is just the throne because she is just aware of the game, just a halo for her. She will be the number one choice in the WNBA draft. It puts us at a disadvantage, whether you want to believe it so or not. All of this is true. ”
“And she’s a great player, but just because you’re a great player doesn’t mean you need to win a national championship to legalize it. Page is legal. Her career has been a legend from the moment she stepped onto this stage or before she was in Minnesota.
Staley then pointed South Carolina Experience in running for the national championship last year.
“I just want to put it there. I can’t fix it because it happened. It happened to us last year. It’s all about Caitlyn Clark, her legacy and her ability to win the Nationals. But we got stuck in unbeaten things, and what we did at the time was avatarless because it was hard.
UConn guard Paige Bueckers passes the ball in a sweet 16 games against Oklahoma on Saturday, March 29, 2025 in Spokane, Washington. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Staley then expressed his desire to take a more balanced approach.
“I want the emotion to be about what our players and what our players are able to do — again, because there are two room to do,” she said. “We can improve Page because she deserves that and improve our players because they deserve that. That’s not enough. There’s enough room for us in our game.”
Saturday, ESPN includes quotes Excerpted from Staley’s media conference, covering articles by Bueckers’ narrative. The network’s Women’s Basketball X (formerly known as Twitter account) also shared an article with the link to the story.
“Dawn Staley said her pursuit to win the title is masking South Carolina feats around Paige Bueckers’ narrative,” the post on X Read said. “How Staley’s comments on her raised and responded to the question of the position. “Lie! Please fix your title!” South Carolina Written on X.
South Carolina was undefeated last season, beating Clark and Hawkeye in the championship game. Iowa also ranked short in the 2023 National Championships, as LSU dominated Hawkeye in that year’s championship game.
Caitlin Clark of Iowa at the LSU race at American Airlines Arena. (Greg Nelson /Sports Illustry by Getty Image)
Click here to get the Fox News app
Clark never won a championship in his college career. Still, she is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in women’s college basketball – and it seems to be Staley’s point of view that Bueckers don’t need to “win national titles to legalize” a player’s greatness.
South Carolina and UConn tip at 3 p.m. ET at the Amalie Arena.
Follow Fox News Numbers Motion Report on Xand subscribe Fox News Sports Grocery Newsletter.
