Sports
Dawn Staley created South Carolina's perfect championship season out of last year's loss
CLEVELAND — As Dawn Staley stood before her team during a meeting a night before the national championship game, she took a swig of water and began to cough.
“You about to cry, Coach?” a player called from the back of the room.
“No,” she said and then paused. “But I might on Sunday if we win.”
The players laughed, but her assistants sensed sincerity with those words. They’ve seen the burden Staley has carried this year as she has adjusted to a team that’s younger and looser. A team that sometimes wouldn’t respond to text messages or would show up late to meetings. A team that is so unlike the group that graduated a season ago.
Staley has jokingly referred to this season’s roster as a day care, and no one in the Gamecocks locker room really rebuffs that point. They wear it as a badge of honor with their own unique sense of humor. And yet, they won and won and won on the floor as they chased just the 10th undefeated season in women’s college basketball history.
The coaches huddled on the sideline with a minute to go, with the 87-75 win over Iowa assured, the clock just performative at this point and the national championship trophy all but added to their growing case. Staley’s tears began to fall. They continued to fall as she embraced her coaches and players, and as the clock finally expired. They continued during her postgame interview on the court and as she knelt over to catch her breath. She didn’t try to stop them. She wanted to handle the emotions in real time.
“It was emotional for me because of how it ended last year,” Staley said. “It’s heavy, it’s heavy. You carry the burden of every single one of your players, all the coaches and staff members that put so much into our team. And it’s a heavy load to be undefeated, to finish the job. And you get emotional because you just want that for them, and you’re happy that you’re able to — because only one team wins the national championship.”
Dawn Staley overcome with emotion after South Carolina natty win 🥹
Led the Gamecocks to a perfect season 👏 pic.twitter.com/8oLjeIrgwM
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 7, 2024
Last year, the Gamecocks were not that one team. They might’ve been the best team and most talented team. South Carolina led the rankings from preseason through the tournament and as the overwhelming favorite to get the job done. But the Gamecocks did not. They fell short, stunningly, to Iowa. That senior class, which went 129-9 over four seasons and lost just three games total in their junior and senior seasons (by a total of 7 points) did everything right, and yet, they did not end their careers with a win. They ended it like 350 other schools — in a loss.
“Last year rocked me,” Staley said. “It rocked me.”
In Staley’s mind, that didn’t completely compute.
How can a team that does everything right not also win the national title? How was she not able to get that group — players who never gave Staley a reason to complain or wince — over the finish line? How could the best team Staley had ever had not get that championship?
“I think it drove her,” assistant coach Lisa Boyer said. “We still talk about we didn’t get over the hill with that group. They were so talented and such a strong unit. … It was hard to understand.”
Staley was continuing to process the ending of last season when this season began. A team with five new starters. A transfer from Oregon. No one who averaged more than 20 minutes a game, and not a single player who had more than three career starts. In so many ways, it was the opposite of what she was working with last season.
Staley has always talked about the look, sound and feel of a team. And this one? It was loud and silly. The players talked, Staley says, about nothing in particular. It was not just unlike last year’s group. They were unlike any other team she had ever had. Not just in some of the mechanisms of how they played on the floor, but especially off the court.
In staff meetings, they’d use the words “pivot” and “meet them where they are” more than they ever had before. Staley talked about how, with such a young team, the coaches were going to need to be both coach and captain, in a way. It was more work, extra energy. They were building the plane as it taxied down the runway.
“If we would’ve stayed the way we were with the freshies,” assistant coach Jolette Law said, “it just wouldn’t have worked.”
“It’s push and pull, but the standard remains the same,” Boyer added. “You have to meet them halfway.”
That push and pull meant realizing that players were going to take 3s in transition. (“When have you ever seen a Dawn Staley group take a 3 in transition?” said Khadijah Sessions, a former player and assistant coach. “Never.”) It meant getting rid of the rule of no phones the night before games. It meant giving players four days off after the SEC title game. “She was like, ‘Guys, this is what they need. They need space. They need to recharge their batteries,’” Law said. “That’s just being able to understand the makeup and feel of what we have.”
GO DEEPER
Dawn Staley ‘is Philadelphia’: Stories from the city that loves her back
Junior Bree Hall said she didn’t truly appreciate how much Staley had adjusted to them until the Gamecocks’ swing to North Carolina and Duke a month into the season. While at a team dinner at The Cheesecake Factory, Hall asked the team’s director of basketball operations, Ariana Moore, whether she and the other players could order cheesecake for dessert.
“The last two years, when someone said, ‘You can ask Coach,’ it means, ‘don’t even ask,’” Hall said. “Don’t even bother.”
But Hall did. Staley relented. The players got their cheesecake.
In the midst of a confetti shower and tears, these are the proof points of perfection: Phones, days off, space, recharged batteries, cheesecake. It’s the best evidence that Staley, 2 1/2 decades into her coaching career, is far from finished. The tears are the evidence of the weight she carried through a year that tested her every day.
“This is probably the first time in my career that a team has more stamina in certain areas. Like much more stamina than I could discipline them for,” Staley said. “So I’ve learned to not fight certain battles. Not core value battles, not the core principle of who we are and who I stand for, but just that their identity, they play loose. They play free.”
Dawn Staley is feeling it 💃
🎥 @YahooSportspic.twitter.com/1cUnegLyop
— The Athletic WBB (@TheAthleticWBB) April 7, 2024
A year ago — after four seasons of a team doing everything right — the journey did not end in celebration. A year ago, it did not end with a trophy hoisted and a net draped across Staley’s shoulders. But Sunday, she climbed the ladder after a much different journey from ever before, a much harder journey in many ways. It was one that included more pivoting and adjusting, a test every day and reckoning with the ending to last season that rocked her to her core. The sight, sound and feel of this year were completely different, but so too was the ending. In many ways, Staley’s own sight, sound and feel are different because of this year.
The Gamecocks might not have done everything right, might not have even come close, but they were something else that is more rare: They were perfect.
(Photo: Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)
Sports
Steve Sarkisian denies claims Texas spent excessively to build roster, cites 'irresponsible reporting'
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The University of Texas at Austin’s athletic department has long been heralded for its access to seemingly unmatched financial resources.
The Texas Longhorns football program maintains arguably some of the best — if not the top — amenities in the nation.
Since the advent of name, image and likeness (NIL), there has been a noticeable uptick in the amount of financial resources programs across the U.S. have allocated to football, basketball and other sports.
Ohio State reportedly built one of the country’s most expensive rosters en route to January’s national championship.
Some have asserted Texas’ spending heading into the 2025 campaign was on par with or even surpassed the $20 million the Buckeyes spent.
Head coach Steve Sarkisian of the Texas Longhorns sings “The Eyes of Texas” after the Valero Alamo Bowl game against the Washington Huskies at the Alamodome Dec. 29, 2022, in San Antonio. (Tim Warner/Getty Images)
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian denied the $40 million price tag linked to the Longhorns.
Sarkisian referenced a recent Houston Chronicle column that highlighted Texas’ roster payroll. The column accounted for revenue sharing and Texas NIL collective payouts. According to the outlet, revenue-sharing funds totaled $20.5 million. The total spent on the football team was reported to be between $35-$40 million.
TEXAS’ STEVE SARKISIAN TEMPERS HOPES OF FUTURE ‘UNDEFEATED CHAMPIONS’ CONSIDERING MODERN COLLEGE LANDSCAPE
Sarkisian suggested $25 million was a more accurate figure for Texas’ investment. He also hinted the $40 million figure was a result of “irresponsible reporting.”
“There was one anonymous source that said that’s what our roster was. I wish I had $40 million on our roster. We’d probably be a little bit better team than we are,” the coach said during a recent appearance on SiriusXM’s College Sports Radio.
Sarkisian then addressed the current landscape of college football.
“The idea to think that a lot of other schools aren’t spending money to get players? It’s the state of college football right now. It is what it is,” he said.
Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian heads toward the locker room. (John Rivera/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Texas has advanced to the College Football Playoff the past two seasons. The Longhorns lost 37-31 to Washington in the 2023–24 playoff semifinal.
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian watches a play during the Allstate Sugar Bowl playoff game between the Texas Longhorns and the Washington Huskies Jan. 1, 2024, at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. (Nick Tre. Smith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
After defeating Clemson in the first round last season, Texas survived a double-overtime thriller against Arizona State in the quarterfinals. But the Longhorns could not get past Ohio State in the semifinals.
“It’s been a great run. I wish I had about another $15 million or so, though. We might have a better roster,” Sarkisian said.
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OKLAHOMA CITY — Jessica Clements had been here before.
In April, against Oregon pitcher Elise Sokolsky, when the UCLA center fielder hit a home run in the first game of a three-game series in Eugene.
Clements found herself in a similar position as Thursday night turned into Friday morning at the Women’s College World Series. Only this time, the Bruins were looking to break a 2-2 tie in their final at-bat and move a step closer to a 13th national championship.
“Yeah, this is every girl’s dream,” Clements said after hitting a walk-off, two-run homer off Sokolsky in the seventh inning to send ninth-seeded UCLA to the winner’s bracket at Devon Park with a 4-2 win.
“This is my dream for as long as I could remember. Super blessed to be here.”
Catcher Alexis Ramirez also hit a two-run homer in support of Bruins’ starter Kaitlyn Terry, who pitched a four-hitter and gave up one earned run. UCLA (55-11) will play No. 12 seed Texas Tech on Saturday at 4 p.m. (PDT) for a spot in the semifinals. Oregon (53-9) will face unseeded Mississippi in Friday’s elimination game.
“Yeah, we just knew it would be a great game,” UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “They’re a great competitor, a great team. But I love the way my team fought tonight. Things happen out of our control that can actually frustrate you and get you out of your game, and one thing I talked about to the team … is eliminate the noise. Things are going to get crazy, eliminate the noise. Figure out how to play the game one pitch at a time.”
The Ducks tied the game 2-2 in the seventh on a call at home plate that was overturned.
Oregon’s Paige Sinicki doubled inside the third-base line to lead off the seventh, but the ruling was challenged by UCLA. The call was upheld, but the next batter, Dezianna Patmon, bunted Sinicki to third with one out. Emma Cox followed with a ground ball to third baseman Jordan Woolery, who tried to throw Sinicki out at home. The throw to Ramirez was on time and Sinicki was ruled out at home for the second out.
Oregon challenged the call, and it was overturned after a video review showed obstruction by Ramirez.
“Prior to having possession of the ball, the catcher’s left foot was blocking a portion of the leading edge, so therefore, we have obstruction,” Cody Little, director of video review, said in a statement.
Oregon led 1-0 in the fourth inning when Ramirez hit a two-out pitch from starter Lyndsey Grein over the left-field wall to give UCLA a 2-1 lead. It was the first runs the Bruins had scored against Grein in four games this season. The Ducks took two of three from UCLA in April.
After Woolery singled and Megan Grant walked to open the sixth, Grein was pulled in favor of Sokolsky, who retired the next two batters.
“I loved our fight throughout the entire game,” Oregon coach Melyssa Lombardi said. “It was a dogfight. I thought Lyndsey did a great job on the mound. Our defense was great. It was a total pitcher’s duel, and I just look at two swings that were the difference-maker.
“But I’m just proud of these guys, how they came back, tied the game up and gave us a chance to win the ball game.”
Lightning and rain resulted in a 75-minute delay, and two brief power outages lasting less than a minute each, turned Devon Park dark in the first inning.
Oregon scored first against Terry in the third inning. Kaylynn Jones singled, moved to second on a bunt by Katie Flannery, took third on a ground out by Kai Luschar and scored on a single by Kedre Luschar.
The Bruins nearly answered in their half of the inning when Savannah Pola drove a pitch from Grein 220 feet to the base of the center-field wall that was hauled in by Kedre Luschar to end the inning.
Clements, the graduate transfer from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, used the first at-bat against Sokolsky to her advantage.
UCLA’s Jessica Clements hits a walk-off home run against Oregon at the Women’s College World Series.
(Ross Turteltaub / UCLA Athletics)
“I was just trying to take it one step at a time, one breath at a time, one pitch at a time,” she said. “I had a good first hack. And it started also with a base runner getting on, and I was quite honestly looking middle, looking for a good pitch that I want to drive, and just going for a base hit to keep the rally going, not trying to do too much.
“And I got the payoff from it. I’m so blessed to be here and have that opportunity to have that at-bat, and that started with getting a base runner on. And, yeah, I feel on top of the world. That was awesome.”
Sports
Fever coach Stephanie White reveals she was fined over apparent criticism of WNBA officiating
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Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White didn’t mince words when sharing her thoughts on officiating in the WNBA, which followed Saturday’s game where Caitlin Clark suffered a quad injury that will sideline the star guard for at least two weeks.
Apparently those strong remarks landed White in some trouble with the league.
Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White gives her team direction during the first half of a WNBA basketball game against the Atlanta Dream, Thursday, May, 22, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)
After the Fever suffered a disappointing loss against the Washington Mystics in the team’s first game without Clark, White was asked during the postgame presser whether she believed the league needed to step in to protect top players from “intentionally rough play.”
“Obviously, I think we can get better in certain areas as far as how we call the game, consistency with how we call the game. . . . Are we going to say that we want a free-flowing offensive game, or are we going to have tough, grind-out physical games? And whatever way it is, the players will adjust and coaches will adjust but we can’t have it be one way one quarter and another way another quarter.”
She continued, “I don’t think collectively as a whole the league has to step in and do something, I just think that there has to be some improvements in certain areas.”
But when pushed further on what those areas might be, White revealed that her previous remarks – likely those on Saturday night – resulted in her receiving a fine.
Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White looks up on Tuesday, May 20, 2025, during a game between the Indiana Fever and the Atlanta Dream at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (IMAGN)
INDIANA FEVER SUFFER WORST LOSS OF THE SEASON IN CAITLIN CLARK’S FIRST MISSED GAME OF CAREER
“Are we trying to get me fined again? Because I did just get fined,” she said with a smirk.
White did not elaborate further, but the fine likely stemmed from her comments following Saturday’s loss to the New York Liberty.
“I think it’s pretty egregious what’s been happening to us the last four games, you know, a minus-31 free throw discrepancy,” White said, adding she believed Clark was fined in the play of the game. “And I might be able to understand it if we were just chucking 3s. But we’re not. We’re attacking the rim and the disrespect right now for our team has been pretty unbelievable.”
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark talks with head coach Stephanie White before the game against the Washington Mystics at Entertainment & Sports Arena on May 28, 2025. (Emily Faith Morgan-Imagn Images)
White said Monday that she was not sure when Clark sustained the injury exactly.
“Sometimes great players don’t tell you when they’re hurting,” she said. “I’m glad that she did because we need to nip this in the bud.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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