On Sunday, the South Carolina Gamecocks will face the UConn Huskies in the 2025 women’s basketball national championship game. For Dawn Staley’s USC, this represents an opportunity to secure back-to-back national titles and their third championship in four seasons. However, much like in the previous season with Iowa Hawkeyes phenomenon Caitlin Clark, it appears that more attention is focused on UConn and their star guard, Paige Bueckers, rather than recognizing South Carolina’s impressive achievements.
“Sometimes we create these narratives about great players — Caitlin was one of them; Paige is one of them right now — and we tend to forget the narrative about what our kids have been able to do, going for their third in four years,” Staley stated on Saturday. “There’s a sentimental narrative about Paige. A great freakin’ player. Anybody would start their franchise with Paige because she’s a winner. … But when you put a narrative out there, everybody sees that, and it puts us at a disadvantage, whether you want to believe so or not. Officials see it. It’s all over TikTok. It’s all over ‘SportsCenter.’”
“I just want to put it out there. I can’t not address it because it’s happening. It happened to us last year. Everything was about Caitlin Clark and her legacy and her ability to win a national championship. Yet we were coming into this thing undefeated, doing something unprecedented at the time. We find ourselves back here in a similar situation.” Those remarks are included in an ESPN article by Andrea Adelson shared on Saturday afternoon, which stated, “Dawn Staley says narrative around Paige Bueckers and her quest to win a title has overshadowed South Carolina’s feats.”
Staley expressed her discontent with the framing of the narrative after noticing a social media post about an hour later, stating, “LIES! Fix your headline, please!”
LIES! Fix your headline please! https://t.co/YUL7AolNqy
— dawnstaley (@dawnstaley) April 5, 2025
Staley seems to take issue with the interpretation that she believes the narratives around Bueckers overshadow South Carolina’s accomplishments. After reviewing her quotes, it’s apparent she heavily implies that sentiment while advocating for equal recognition for both teams. Nevertheless, you can certainly interpret her comments as concern that her team, boasting a 35-3 record and standing as the defending champion, is not receiving their due spotlight. Ultimately, the best way to solidify this narrative once and for all is through victory, which Staley and her team will have the chance to achieve on Sunday.