On Saturday, South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley was asked her opinion about trans inclusion in women’s sports. Her answer, as Staley predicted, was not received well.
As Staley and the Gamecocks prepared to play for the national championship on Sunday, Outkick’s Dan Zakasheske asked Staley whether she thinks males identifying as women should be able to play women’s basketball.
After a few moments, Staley replied, “If you’re a woman, you should play. If you consider yourself a woman, and you want to play sports or vice versa, you should be able to play.”
Staley added, “That’s my opinion.”
“Do you think transgender women should be able to participate?” Zaksheske asked.
“That’s the question you want to ask, I’ll give you that,” Staley replied. “Yes. Yes. So now the barnstormer people are going to flood my timeline and be a distraction to me on one of the biggest days of our game, and I’m OK with that. I really am.”
It’s interesting that Staley considers the implications to her social media timeline to be greater than the implications of the endorsement she just gave to males identifying as females infiltrating women’s sports.
If a man with average basketball skills decided to play for South Carolina, he would likely beat out a female player on the current roster. Lia Thomas was a thoroughly mediocre swimmer on the men’s side and began beating Olympians and Olympic-caliber competition on the women’s side, so there’s very recent precedent to support that assertion.
In other words, Staley just put the roster status of every woman on her team and every woman in college basketball in extreme jeopardy. But, you know, her timeline is the real issue.
It should also be noted, as it was noted on X, that Staley once canceled a basketball game against BYU over a completely unfounded charge of racism. Yet, she could not be bothered to defend women’s rights in sports.
It was easy for @dawnstaley to cancel games w/BYU after another team in another sport alleged a (phantom) hate crime. Standing up for girls & women in sports? That requires REAL courage. Testosterone is not social construct, and womanhood is not a vibe.
— Delano Squires (@DelanoSquires) April 7, 2024
Staley herself, a women’s Hall of Famer and Team USA member as a player, would never have realized the success she had as a player if she had to play against men. But, I guess since her career is over, she seems content, leaving open the floodgates to trans infiltration to the current group of female players.
Love & respect @dawnstaley . Hate that she didn’t have the courage to speak the truth…especially bc I don’t think there’s any way she actually believes what she said (her hesitation spoke volumes). Dawn knows damn well that she’d never be a HOFer if she’d played against men.… https://t.co/1W7Lqa732t
— Sage Steele (@sagesteele) April 7, 2024
In any event, Staley’s prediction of a lively timeline was quite accurate.
South Carolina Women’s Basketball Coach Dawn Staley says she supports men playing against women if they identify as a woman. Willing to bet some of the girls on her team disagree. She deserves every bit of criticism she’s about to get for this lunacy.
pic.twitter.com/InQ0O0quUp— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) April 6, 2024
Dawn Staley knows perfectly well that men’s basketball is a totally different sport than women’s basketball
That’s obvious by the speed of the game, the size of the ball, the sheer amount of layups compared to dunks when a player gets a fast break https://t.co/uUgLpxIDbo
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) April 6, 2024
Oh, look at that, bowing down at the altar of the LGBTQIA+ agenda. What a surprise!
Wokeness will always take you farther than you want to go. Mentally delusional men entering women’s basketball? Good luck with that, @dawnstaley! Let’s go, Iowa!!! pic.twitter.com/3tW10AMKFQ
— Virgil L. Walker (@VirgilWalkerOMA) April 7, 2024
Yes, Dawn Staley is remarkable. But now she’s proven herself to be a sellout for women to appease men.
She supports the idea of less than mediocre men taking women’s opportunities. How is this different than the ‘patriarchy’ they touted their grievances with? https://t.co/LR8cFgghNk
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) April 6, 2024
A follow-up question for @dawnstaley: Why are there currently two divisions — girls and boys, mens and women’s — in high school and college athletics?
— Michele Tafoya (@Michele_Tafoya) April 7, 2024
Second follow-up for @dawnstaley: Which of your current players would you be willing to cut to make room for a taller, stronger, faster, biological male who identifies as a woman?
— Michele Tafoya (@Michele_Tafoya) April 7, 2024
Our @UofSC Women’s Basketball Coach @dawnstaley says biological males should be allowed to play in women’s sports.
Our tax dollars shouldn’t fund people and programs pushing these embarrassing ideologies that contradict SC values. @Riley_Gaines_ and @ClayTravis 👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/rO1yjgCR92
— Adam Morgan (@RepAdamMorgan) April 6, 2024
Iowa will play South Carolina for the national championship at 3 P.M. EST.
