COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina Gamecocks Head Coach Dawn Staley is once again the Naismith National Coach of the Year, the third straight time she's received the honor and fourth time overall.
The award was presented Wednesday afternoon in Cleveland, the site of this year's Final Four, which the Gamecocks are playing in. They take on NC State Friday night at 7 p.m., and if they win, they'd play in the national championship game that's set for 3 p.m. Sunday.
Staley thanked her staff and players after accepting the trophy, and joked that while both groups get on each others nerves sometimes, it's all part of the pursuit of success.
"We find a way to make beautiful music together and win awards like this," Staley said.
Staley has led the Gamecocks (36-0) to back-to-back undefeated regular seasons and into the postseason. Over those two years the Gamecocks are staggering 72-1, with their lone loss to Iowa in last year's national semifinal game.
During the course of her Gamecock career, Staley has won 80 percent of her games, building the team into a national power. She's led the team to two national championships and six Final Fours, remarkable considering prior to her arrival, the team had never advanced past the Sweet 16.
Despite losing seven players to either the WNBA or graduation, USC once again finds itself as the team to beat. The topped preseason expectations, which had then ranked 6th in the polls, regarding the number one spot in the opening weeks and never relinquished that. They're third in the nation with 85.6 points per game and defensively, they also lead the nation in blocks and are third in rebound margin. Owing to the tremendous recruiting and depth of the team that Staley has brought in, they're second in the nation in bench scoring, averaging 33.9 points a game, and are beating their opponents by a larger margin than anyone else, nearly six more points a game over the second best team.
And the good news for the Gamecocks? Most of their top talent will likely come back, including Raven Johnson, Ashlyn Watkins, Chole Kitts, and Bree Hall, as well as star freshmen Milyasia Fulwiley and Tessa Johnson.
Last month, Staley was named the league coach of the year, one behind Tennessee icon Pat Summitt for the SEC record.