Everything South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley said ahead of season opener
On Friday, South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley spoke to the media ahead of Monday’s season opener against the Michigan Wolverines.
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—Freshman guard Maddy McDaniel is “probably not playing” against Michigan. She has returned to practice in a part-time capacity but is not working through live 5-on-5 yet.
—Coach Staley is a big fan of playing early-season neutral-site contests. She believes it gives her team the ability to play against better competition in a non-home environment. The games more resemble important games later in the season. Playing against good competition allows the team and coaches to work through difficulties in a realistic way. The paydays that accompany those games are a benefit, as well.
—She is extremely proud that Jocelyn Penn and Tiffany Mitchell will be inducted into the South Carolina Letterman’s Athletics Hall of Fame. Both were great Gamecocks who went pro and represented the program and University well. It’s special for Mitchell as a player she coached but also for Penn as a great part of USC’s history.
—Staley and the staff felt really good heading into the opener before today’s practice. “Today wasn’t one of our best practices.” Even with the tough day, she is not doubting this team or their preparation. She said, “I’m not nervous…they’ll be ready to go.”
—She expects Michigan to be well-coached and “very scrappy.” The Gamecock head coach is interested to see how her team’s post players adjust to the Wolverines’ unique style. During their exhibition, Michigan started five guards. Staley plans to see them playing zone defense and a sagged-off man against the Gamecocks.
—Assistant coach Winston Gandy did a great job with the scouting report. Michigan could deploy a lot of first-year players, but he had film on them, as well. She’s thankful for the internet making scouting easier.
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—She will be happy on Monday’s flight home if they do two things. 1: the Gamecocks have to win. 2: They also have to play and execute like they’ve shown they are capable of playing since the summer. Anything else will be alarming.
—She’s pleased with how Te-Hina Paopao has played on defense this preseason. She expects to see her show more to her game than “just being the best 3-point shooter.” Getting into the paint, showcasing counters to defenses’ efforts against her, and getting some easy looks will be critical.
—Staley thinks the road trip can be a good bonding experience. However, she doesn’t know how much of an away-from-home experience it will be because of the travel plans of the South Carolina women’s basketball FAMs. It will be a business trip, regardless.
—Coach Staley believes this team is more unselfish than last year’s team. She thinks most of that has come from players growing in experience and “logging more minutes” together, seeing what their teammates are capable of doing.
—She didn’t dress up for Halloween, but Champ (her dog) dressed up as Chuckie. The trick-or-treat turnout was disappointing, but a lot of people celebrated Halloween early. She gave out a lot of candy anyway.
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You can watch her entire conversation with the media below.
