Dawn and Geno’s Confrontation – The Sad Reality of Coaches’ Poor Behavior

March is nothing without a little bit of madness, right?

The NCAA Women’s Final Four matchup in Phoenix, Arizona on April 3rd between the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Connecticut Huskies was nothing short of entertaining. UConn came into the game on a 54-game winning streak, going undefeated in the regular season. South Carolina also had a very successful season with only two losses. 

UConn was up by two points at halftime; however, South Carolina was not going to give up. The Gamecocks dominated the third quarter, agitating UConn’s head coach, Geno Auriemma. During the third quarter media interview with Auriemma, he expressed extreme frustration with the officiating and threw out some profanity in this live interview.

In South Carolina’s last possession of the game, head coach Dawn Staley decided to dribble out the ball to defeat the Huskies 62-48. In the final seconds of the game, Staley and Auriemma approached each other to begin traditional postgame congratulations. However, instead of handshakes, Auriemma started yelling at Staley. Assistant coaches from both UConn and South Carolina attempted to separate the two, when officials held Auriemma back and dragged him away from Staley while there were still 0.1 seconds left on the game clock. After the final inbound, Auriemma headed toward the locker room, leaving assistant coaches to shake hands and congratulate the Gamecocks. 

When questioned about the confrontation in the postgame interview Auriemma insinuated that it stemmed from frustration with Staley after she didn’t shake his hand before the game. When Staley was asked about the confrontation, she said that she was not sure why Auriemma was upset with her. Staley asked that the rest of the interview be focused on the game, players, and success of the Gamecocks, rather than the confrontation. 

The following day Auriemma released a statement saying that there was no excuse for his behavior and that he wanted to sincerely apologize to the South Carolina staff and players; however, he didn’t name Staley or apologize directly to her in this statement. Following South Carolina’s loss to UCLA in the National Championship game, Staley said that she had not heard from Auriemma, and asked the media to focus on UCLA’s win or South Carolina’s poor performance, instead of the confrontation with Auriemma. 

On April 7th, Auriemma released another statement, stating that he and Staley talked earlier that morning. He said both teams, as well as women’s basketball deserve better, and that he didn’t just lose a game, but himself. Both Auriemma and Staley agreed to move on and shift the focus back to the game, with Staley saying that “one moment doesn’t define a career.” 

As a fan, intense coaching or player confrontations like these can be extremely disheartening, especially in women’s basketball. While it may be entertaining for the game and the media to gossip about for a week or two, it takes away from the game and the success of the players. The accomplishments of these women are already overlooked by the media and take away from the conversation of the team and player’s success. Instead of the conversation being about the amazing performance from South Carolina ending a 54-game winning streak for UConn to go to the National Championship game, the story was instead about Auriemma’s erratic behavior. In addition, Auriemma initially defended himself and took multiple days to reach out to Staley, which allowed the media to continue talking about the situation until it was confirmed that Auriemma reached out to apologize to Staley. Coaches across college and professional sports need to take a step back and realize how their behavior doesn’t just affect their team, but the league and sport as a whole. 

• basketball
• college
• womeninsports