The U.S. Basketball Writers Association named South Carolina’s Dawn Staley as the National Coach of the Year.
Staley has won the honor for the fourth time, making her the only coach in history to accomplish so in three consecutive seasons.
According to WLTX, Staley has led the Gamecocks to their third consecutive NCAA Tournament overall No. 1 seed, and they are undefeated for the second consecutive season.
According to ABC Columbia, Staley had only one player who had ever started a game as a Gamecock going into the season, after losing seven players to graduation, including all five starters from the 2023 NCAA Final Four. Despite this, the squad was ranked No. 6/4 in the national preseason polls due to the quality of talent acquired through the signing class and the transfer site.
The Gamecocks lead the nation with 17 victories over NET top-50 teams and are second in the nation in terms of victories versus rated opponents.
This season, the 53-year-old coach was nominated for SEC Coach of the Year by her peers for the seventh time in history, trailing only legendary Pat Summitt.
The Atlanta Tipoff Club announced on March 25 that the honoree is one of four finalists for the 2024 Werner Ladder Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year award.
The trailblazer’s exceptional coaching has earned her recognition from multiple sources, including The Athletic, ESPN, The Sporting News, and USBWA. She was also named National Coach of the Year by Black Enterprise.