Dawn Michelle Staley, first of her name.

Staley, head coach of the University of South Carolina women’s basketball team, is a legend in her own right her biography on the South Carolina website reflects this.

Before she began her coaching profession, she gained fame playing basketball. The 5-foot-7 Staley made a reputation for herself as a setter in highschool, where she was named the USA Today National High School Player of the Year her senior 12 months in 1988. She then played in college. basketball on the University of Virginia, where she was named ACC Rookie of the Year in 1989; She appeared in the NCAA Final Four 3 times, including the 1991 championship game, and was named Most Outstanding Player after the sport.

She was voted National Player of the Year in 1991 and 1992; named Kodak All-American three years in a row (1990, 1991, 1992); was the ACC Player of the Year in 1991 and 1992 and is the all-time ACC player – male or female – with over 2,000 points, 700 rebounds, 700 assists and 400 steals. He is also one in all only three players in Virginia to have their jerseys retired.

Dawn is not recent to this; she’s real about it.

He is currently the primary black coach in Division I basketball history to stay undefeated, win three championship titles.

As a coach who began at Temple University in 2000 after which joined South Carolina in 2008, she left an indelible mark on women’s college basketball.

On Sunday, she led South Carolina to the national championship for the third time – this time with the added distinction of going undefeated – 38-0 – all season.

Dawn Staley is that female dog and we can’t allow you to forget.

We were cheering for Dawn before the match. We wanted her to win.

As a black woman, I wanted her to win. I wanted her to win it for herself, just as I wanted her to win it for the remainder of us Black women who put a lot pressure on us in our on a regular basis lives; most days, a win for one in all us seems like a win for all of us.

And since she’s a black woman going about her black business and just attempting to get on along with her job of coaching her team, Saturday’s press conference where the main focus must have been on her upcoming championship game and the undeniable fact that her team had at this point the record was 37-0 for the 12 months, the troll reporter decided to drop a stick of dynamite in her lap and gleefully waited for it to blow up in her face.

Dan Zaksheske of Outkick – an outlet that he says Twitter bio is “Your antidote to mainstream sports media,” Dawn Staley and Iowa coach Lisa Bluder asked about transgender women competing in women’s sports. Bluder refused to reply the query. Staley didn’t do this.

To be fair, Zaksheske’s query to Staley was a few loaded gun waiting for somebody to fireside it incorrectly.

“Coach, you only talked about how vital this weekend is for girls’s basketball and girls’s sports in general. One of the principal issues currently facing women’s sports is the controversy… the subject of debate concerning the inclusion of transgender athletes – biological males – in women’s sports. I used to be wondering in the event you could tell me your position on this matter.

First, let’s be honest; this is not the “major issue” facing women’s sports today. There were no transgender women participating in this tournament or the upcoming game. The population of transgender athletes competing in competition in NCAA sports is so small that the number of individuals complaining and crying about it is actually much greater. It’s poor.

Staley answered this query with much more grace than it deserved, and gave a solution that largely silenced Zaksheske and everybody else.

Staley, taking a dramatic sip of water from her cup, hoarse from screaming and screaming after her team won its thirty seventh game on Friday, checked out Zaksheske and took a stand in defense of transgender women in all places.

First she asked, “Damn, you took me deep, didn’t you?”

“I think… if you’re a woman, you should play,” Staley said with a shrug. If you think about yourself a lady and need to play sports or vice versa, it’s best to have the opportunity to do it.

“That’s my opinion,” she continued, then asked Zaksheske. “Do you want me to go deeper?”

“Do you think transgender women should be allowed to play college basketball?” – added the lame man in the room to an already loaded query.

“That’s the question you really want to ask,” Staley said. “I’ll give it to you. Yes. Yes.

“So now a storm of individuals will flood my timeline and distract me on some of the vital days… of our game. And it doesn’t hassle me,” she said firmly.

Boom.

The stick of dynamite exploded, but it exploded in the face of Dan Zaksheske, who I’m sure was hoping Staley would make a mistake or otherwise be weak in her response, buckling under the pressure of the hatred she knew would follow her, if she answers yes (as she did) and stated that transwomen should be treated like other women.

The question was supposed to be GOTCHA! moment and ended in failure, as evidenced by Zakshreske, who now complains on the website that people are after him for even asking the question.

He was wrong to ask that question, and he meant it would get in the way, so he might as well admit it. You can’t throw a rock and hide your hand, especially when it’s a rock you’re using to beat a black woman over the head.

The question served the purpose it was intended to serve; it distracted from a flawless season and the impending victory that put Dawn Staley in the history books. According to the NCAAin the 41-year history of women’s college basketball, only 10 teams in D1 women’s basketball have gone undefeated.

That’s 10 teams from five schools, and Dawn Staley added South Carolina to that number on Sunday.

what should we talk about.

Supporting transgender athletes is important and I’m glad Dawn Staley stepped up to the plate and answered what seemed like a troll question.

This moment shouldn’t have been GOTCHA! moment.

This should be a moment to celebrate a woman who has made a huge mark on women’s basketball.

This should be a moment to celebrate the team that has worked hard to achieve this level of success.

This should be a moment to celebrate all that Dawn Staley has accomplished and a moment to reflect on what’s next for her.

Dawn Staley is undefeated in many ways.

Let’s celebrate it.

Sports

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