2 Black women head coaches to appear in Final Four for first time
Dawn Staley leads the South Carolina Gamecocks for the third time, while Adia Barnes debuts there with her Arizona Wildcats.
Two Black women will be head coaches leading teams in the NCAA Final Four women’s basketball tournament for the first time this year.
Former WNBA star Dawn Staley will lead the South Carolina Gamecocks for the third time out, while Adia Barnes will debut there with her Arizona Wildcats. Barnes also played in the WNBA, where she won a championship with the Seattle Storm.
“It’s always going to be part player in us, and that’s why our players … we are so relatable to them,” Staley said. “They understand it because it’s coming from a place of ‘We’ve done that. We’re trying to help you get to that place where we can have longevity in our league.'”
The Staley-led Gamecocks won the title in 2017. She told reporters she was “super proud of Adia” and said she was cheering for Barnes and her team for no other reason than for the world to see two Black women on the “biggest stage of women’s college basketball.”
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According to CNN, Staley says the racial disparity is “because there are so many Black coaches out there that don’t get (an) opportunity because when ADs [Athletics Directors] don’t see it, they don’t see it — and they’re going to see it on the biggest stage of a Friday night, that two Black women are representing two programs in the Final Four, something that has never been done before.”
“Representation matters,” said Staley. “It’s nothing against anybody else that lost to us, but when you see two Black women representing in this way, I hope the decision-makers who — because there are a lot of jobs out there that you give Black women an opportunity — not just give them the job.”
She encouraged more athletic programs to interview Black women, and if they don’t hire them, to coach them on how they can improve.
“Let them know why so we can continue to work on and just perfecting our craft and our profession, ” said Staley, “because there are a lot of people out there that aren’t getting the opportunities that they should because this is exactly what can happen when you give a Black woman an opportunity.”
“Don’t get me wrong,” she continued, “I don’t want people to start bashing me on social media about ‘just hire the most qualified coach.’ If it was that easy, there would be more Black head coaches in our game.”
Barnes calls it “incredible to be representing Black female coaches on the biggest stage” for women in sports.
“To be behind someone like Dawn Staley,” she told The Arizona Republic, “Dawn Staley is incredible. She’s a proven winner who has done amazing things for women’s basketball. To even be in the conversation with someone that great, it’s an honor.”
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