SC Women’s Basketball Coach Dawn Staley Says Transgender Athletes ‘Should Be Able To Play’ In NCAA

 

South Carolina women’s college basketball coach Dawn Staley said she supports transgender athletes competing in women’s sports.

Staley’s team defeated North Carolina State on Friday, advancing to the women’s National Championship against the Iowa Hawkeyes. The South Carolina Gamecocks, led by Staley, are currently undefeated.

The Hall of Fame coach sat down on Saturday morning for a media conference to discuss Sunday’s upcoming match against the Hawkeyes’ star player Caitlin Clark. The Hawkeyes advanced to the championship game on Friday night after a 71-69 win over the UConn Huskies.

During the press conference, Outkick reporter Dan Zaksheske asked Staley whether transgender women should be allowed to compete in women’s sports.

“Damn, you got deep on me, didn’t you?” Staley said. “I’m of the opinion of, 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. That’s my opinion. You want me to go deeper?”

Zaksheske followed up by asking if she believes transgender women should be allowed to also play in women’s basketball.

“That’s the question you want to ask, I’ll give you that. 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 okay with that. I really am.”

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The upcoming championship match between the Gamecocks and Hawkeyes is expected to be one of the most watched women’s college basketball games of all-time.

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