South Carolina Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley didn’t mince words when talking about Caitlin Clark. They clashed twice during Clark’s final two seasons with the Iowa Hawkeyes, with the guard beating South Carolina in the Final Four of the 2023 March Madness tournament and the Gamecocks taking revenge on the national championship game a year later.
Clark is now trying to lead the Indiana Fever to their second WNBA championship, while she keeps drawing positive comments, even from the people she faced and beat during her historical collegiate career.
When asked about her former rival, Staley had nothing but good things to say about the Indiana Fever star, praising her for all the attention she’s brought to the W.
Dawn Staley gushes about Caitlin Clark
“She (Clark) is quite incredible, quite an anomaly when it comes to how many eyeballs she’s bringing on the game,” Staley said during an appearance on Kylie Kelce’s podcast. “And the newness of those eyeballs — they only want her to do well. Only want you to speak very highly of her. Only, you know, want you to agree with what they agree with. And that’s kind of hard.”
A year after beating Caitlin Clark in the national championship game, Dawn Staley’s South Carolina Gamecocks succumbed to the Paige Bueckers-led UConn Huskies, 82-59. Geno Auriemma’s squad played a terrific game to beat South Carolina for the second time in the season.
They remain a powerhouse in college women’s basketball, but other teams, starting with the Huskies, the USC Trojans and the LSU Tigers will try to ruin their plans to return to the top of college basketball.