Dawn Staley and Adia Barnes make history as Black head coaches in the Final FourDAWN
![a man wearing a costume: Arizona's Adia Barnes is one of two Black head coaches in the Final Four. (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)]({"default":{"load":"default","w":"80","h":"52","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB1fdn5T.img?h=519&w=799&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=2170&y=1627"},"size3column":{"load":"default","w":"62","h":"41","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB1fdn5T.img?h=406&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=2170&y=1627"},"size2column":{"load":"default","w":"62","h":"41","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB1fdn5T.img?h=406&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=2170&y=1627"}})
Three other things to watch for at the Final Four
The outsider: Connecticut, Stanford and South Carolina are all No. 1 seeds that have a national championship on the résumé. All three are coached by Hall of Famers who have been named Associated Press national coach of the year. Then there’s Arizona, making its first Final Four as a program that hasn’t had a WNBA draft pick since 2013.
None of that matters now as the Wildcats are two wins from their first title with conference player of the year and co-defensive player of the year Aari McDonald leading the way.
“For us, we believe that we can accomplish something great this year,” senior forward Trinity Baptiste said. “We believe we can win it all. That’s where it starts, with us believing in order to accomplish something. As far as the other teams, I just approach every game like it’s the same. I don’t really look at an opponent and approach the game different because of the name on their jersey.
“It was a good feeling just knowing that you’re making history along the way. Just looking at my teammates and coaches, just a joy that I felt that I wouldn’t want to feel with anybody else.”
Heavy hitters: There is no lack of star power heading into the final weekend with each team featuring some of the biggest names in the game.
The game’s latest star is Paige Bueckers, the national player of the year. The firsts have piled up as the U-Conn. product is the first freshman to win the award and also the first to be named Big East player of the year, freshman of the year and conference tournament most outstanding player in the same season. The 5-foot-11 guard is averaging 20.1 points, 5.9 assists and 4.8 rebounds while shooting 52.8 percent from the field and 45.9 percent from behind the arc.
South Carolina is headlined by 6-5 forward Aliyah Boston, a first team all-American who averaged 13.8 points, 11.4 rebounds and 2.6 blocks. The Athletic named her national player of the year, and the sophomore is a finalist for Naismith defensive player of the year.
Three players to watch in the women’s Final Four besides Paige BueckersMcDonald, a 5-6 senior guard for Arizona, has averaged 20.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists, and her 91 straight games scoring in double digits constitute the longest active streak in the nation.
Third-team all-American Kiana Williams sets the tone for Stanford with 14.5 points per game and 3.1 assists. The 5-8 senior guard is playing in her hometown of San Antonio and holds the program record for the most made career three-pointers.
A future promise: The NCAA created separate bubbles in Indianapolis and San Antonio for the men’s and women’s tournaments to limit the chances of a coronavirus outbreak that would force a team to forfeit. Those bubbles, however, put on full display the inequities between the men’s and women’s setups. From the weight room to the food provided to the marketing efforts and even the logos used on the floor, the women were clearly treated as less than.
NCAA President Mark Emmert acknowledged the issues, which are not new but were more obvious when the two bubbles were compared, and apologized. He committed to addressing those issues in the future.
“It is pretty self-evident that we dropped the ball in supporting our women’s athletes,” Emmert said Thursday during a news conference. “How do we make up for those shortcomings from this day going on and create the kind of gender equity that we all talk about, I talk about, everybody talks about but make sure that it’s a reality, not just language?”
WHO IS “Dawn Staley”
 Staley in 2012
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| South Carolina Gamecocks | |
|---|---|
| Position | Head coach |
| League | Southeastern Conference |
| Personal information | |
| Born | May 4, 1970 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) |
| Listed weight | 134 lb (61 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Dobbins Tech (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) |
| College | Virginia (1988–1992) |
| WNBA draft | 1999 / Round: 1 / Pick: 9th overall |
| Selected by the Charlotte Sting | |
| Playing career | 1996–2006 |
| Position | Guard |
| Number | 5 |
| Coaching career | 2000–present |
| Career history | |
| As player: | |
| 1994–1995 | Tarbes Gespe Bigorre |
| 1996–1998 | Richmond / Philadelphia Rage |
| 1999–2005 | Charlotte Sting |
| 2005–2006 | Houston Comets |
| As coach: | |
| 2000–2008 | Temple |
| 2008–present | South Carolina |
| 2017–present | United States |
| Career highlights and awards | |
As player:
As coach:
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| Stats at WNBA.com | |
| Basketball Hall of Fame as player | |
| Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame | |
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Medals
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Dawn Michelle Staley (born May 4, 1970) is an American basketball Hall of Fame player and coach. Staley is a three-time Olympic gold medalist, and was elected to carry the United States flag at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics. After playing point guard for the University of Virginia under Debbie Ryan, and winning the gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics, she went to play professionally in the American Basketball League and the WNBA. In 2011, Staley was voted in by fans as one of the Top 15 players in WNBA history. Staley was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012. She was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.
While still a WNBA player, she started coaching the Temple University Owls women’s basketball team in 2000. In eight years at Temple, she led the program to six NCAA tournaments, three regular season conference championships, and four conference tournament titles.
On May 7, 2008, she was named head coach for women’s basketball at the University of South Carolina. Over the following six seasons, she improved her program’s record every year, culminated by winning the SEC in 2013–2014. In late 2014 her team achieved the program’s first #1 ranking, making her only the second individual to both play on and coach a #1 ranked team. Staley has gone on to lead South Carolina to five SEC regular season championships, five SEC tournament championships, six Sweet Sixteens, two Final Fours, and on April 2, 2017, she guided the South Carolina Gamecocks to the program’s first NCAA Women’s Basketball National Championship.
On March 10, 2017, she was named head coach of USA national team.
On April 2, 2020, Staley became the first person to win the Naismith Award as a player, and also as a coach. She also won the other three major National Coach of the Year awards, after she led her team to a 32 win season and a final ranking of #1 in both major polls, before the Tournament was cancelled.
