South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley makes Coach of the Year watch list

South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley is among the top coaches in the country, regardless of sport or level. In women’s hoops, specifically, she is one of just four coaches all-time with at least three National Championship victories. This year, the Gamecocks are one of the favorites to vie for another title.

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Because of that, it comes as no surprise that Coach Staley earned a spot on the watch list for the Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year Award. One of 15 coaches on the list, Staley has won the honor four times previously, including each of the past three seasons. Only UConn’s Geno Auriemma (a candidate again this season) and Tennessee’s Pat Summitt have finished as the Naismith College Coach of the Year more times than Staley. Auriemma won the award eight times, while Summitt did on five occasions.

Joining Coach Staley on the watch list are Auriemma, Kentucky’s Kenny Brooks, Tennessee’s Kim Caldwell, TCU’s Mark Campbell, UCLA’s Cori Close, Georgia Tech’s Nell Fortner, Southern Cal’s Lindsay Gottlieb, Notre Dame’s Niele Ivey, Ohio State’s Kevin McGuff, Kansas State’s Jeff Mittie, NC State’s Wes Moore, LSU’s Kim Mulkey, Vanderbilt’s Shea Ralph, and Texas’ Vic Schaefer.

Despite losing National Player of the Year candidate and matchup nightmare Kamilla Cardoso this offseason, Staley has the Gamecocks ranked in the top 10 once again. The Gamecocks’ overall resume is among the nation’s best, and an NCAA Tournament 1-seed is within reach.

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From the South Carolina Athletics release:

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina women’s basketball head coach Dawn Staley was one of 15 coaches named to the 2025 Werner Ladder Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year Late Season Watch List presented by AXIA Time, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced today. Staley is the only four-time winner in the award’s history for men’s or women’s basketball, including winning it the last three seasons.

Staley’s put her stamp on NCAA history this season, becoming just the second coach all-time to lead her team to multiple 40-game win streaks after the Gamecocks opened the season with five wins that stretched their streak to a program record 43 games. South Carolina also put together an SEC-best 71-game home winning streak that ranks third in NCAA history and an SEC-best 57-game conference regular-season win streak that is tied for sixth in NCAA history.

This season, Staley once again has her Gamecock atop the SEC standings with an 11-1 conference record. The team’s 23-3 mark includes a nation-leading 12 games against ranked opponents with an NCAA-best nine wins in those outings. With the nation’s toughest schedule, the Gamecocks are still ranked among the nation’s best in scoring (15th, 80.2 ppg), field goal percentage defense (6th, .349), rebounding average (14^th, 42.4 rpg), turnovers per game (14th, 12.2), assist to turnover ratio (12th, 1.4), blocks per game (6th, 5.7) and bench scoring (1st, 41.6).

No. 6/6 South Carolina is back at Colonial Life Arena on Thursday to close out a three-game homestand against Arkansas at 7 p.m.

Continue to check GamecocksOnline.com and the team’s social media accounts (@GamecockWBB) for the most up-to-date information on South Carolina women’s basketball.

Naismith Coach of the Year Late Season Watch List
Geno Auriemma, UConn
Kenny Brooks, Kentucky
Kim Caldwell, Tennessee
Mark Campbell, TCU
Cori Close, UCLA
Nell Fortner, Georgia Tech
Lindsay Gottlieb, Southern Cal
Niele Avey, Notre Dame
Kevin McGuff, Ohio State
Jeff Mittie, Kansas State
Wes Moore, NC State
Kim Mulkey, LSU
Shea Ralph, Vanderbilt
Vic Schaefer, Texas
Dawn Staley, South Carolina

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