Skip to main content

Dawn Staley wins prestigious honor for second time in career

Barkley-Truaxby:Barkley Truax03/30/22

BarkleyTruax

On3 image
Dawn Staley cuts the net after advancing to the Final Four. Katie Dugan, GamecockCentral.com

South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley has won the Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year for the second time in her illustrious career. Staley’s Gamecocks are 33-2 this season and are facing the Louisville Cardinals in the Final Four on Friday.

With the news of her winning the prestigious award for the second time, that makes her the only coach to win the award twice, while previously winning Naismith Women’s College Player of the Year in the 90’s during her time as an undersized firecracker for the University of Virginia.

The three-time Olympic Gold Medalist won her first Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year Award in 2020 after a 32-1 start to the season that came to an abrupt halt thanks to the COVID 19 pandemic.

South Carolina and Louisville tip on Friday at 7 p.m. ET live on ESPN and Staley looks to notch another win en route to capturing her second national championship as head coach of the Gamecocks.

South Carolina shooting guard enters NCAA Transfer Portal

Devin Carter – a former On3 Consensus four-star shooting guard who averaged 9.0 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game on 42% shooting last season at South Carolina – has entered the NCAA Transfer Portal, per On3’s Matt Zenitz. 

A 6-foot-3, 188-pound guard, Carter has decided to enter the transfer portal following the firing of Frank Martin, who led the Gamecocks to a 18-13 season in 2021-22. South Carolina has since hired Lamont Paris to take over the program. 

As for Carter, the best game of his freshman season came in a win over Army on Dec. 22 as he scored 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting. In his last game for South Carolina, a loss to Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament, Carter scored 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting. 

Carter prepped at Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire and committed to South Carolina over other offers from schools such as Georgia Tech, VCU, Richmond and College of Charleston.