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Malcom X proclaimed that the most disrespected person in America is a Black woman. More than 60 years after he made this assertion, it still resonates, even during a 2026 college basketball game.

When the University of South Carolina Gamecocks, coached by Dawn Staley, defeated the University of Connecticut Huskies, coached by Geno Auriemma, 62-48, on April 3 in the 2026 Women’s Final Four, it was a huge win for the Staley and her talented team. The highly anticipated semifinal matchup put them one step closer to winning the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Women’s Basketball Championship title, which the team has successfully done under Staley leadership in 2017, 2022 and 2024. However, it was what occurred immediately following the game that made headlines both in and out of the sports world.

Right before the intense game’s final buzzer, Auriemma approached Staley for a postgame handshake. The coach of a previously undefeated UConn proceeded to angrily get in Staley’s face while yelling and pointing at her. It was a triggering sight. For context, Auriemma is 6’1”. Staley is 5’6”. Eventually, Staley did begin firing back. The two premiere coaches were soon separated by game officials and their staffs before Auriemma walked off into the tunnel alone. It became a hot topic as the visual of Staley being yelled at so ferociously by her peer after just reaching yet another career accomplishment felt familiar for all the wrong reasons.

The following day, Auriemma issued an apology…to everyone but Staley. That’s right, said “apology” noticeably omitted Staley’s name. In the statement, Auriemma said “there’s no excuse” for his behavior and that it was “unlike what I do and what our standard is here at Connecticut”. The statement quickly went viral on social media and thousands of people, many of whom weren’t even college basketball fans, expressed further support for Staley.

In a press conference later that day, Staley, who is also a New York Times best-selling author, was asked by multiple members of the media about the incident. Her response to a query from a New York Post reporter about staying focused on her goals reminded us of why Staley is, and always has been, a winner. With her hair pulled back into a ponytail, wearing her signature beaded bracelets and her vibe as cool as a fan, Staley quipped, “One: I had a praying mother. Right? Two: I grew up in the projects of North Philly. Right? 215. 267. Area code. So, nothing can derail us, or me, from staying with the task at hand. There are a lot of distractions that are placed in your life. You’re either going to address them or let them overcome you. Or you stick with the task at hand. I’m choosing to stick with the task at hand. At some point, everything is going to be addressed. But today, this weekend, won’t be one of them.”

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Mic drop. Spoken like a true champion.

Being a champion is something Dawn Michelle Staley knows a lot about. Her parents were part of the Great Migration, fleeing Jim Crow life in South Carolina in the 1950s and landing in Philadelphia for more opportunity. Fortitude is in her DNA. Now, let’s recap some of her receipts. Dawn Staley has repeatedly broken glass ceilings in both collegiate and professional women’s basketball. In 2000, Staley became the head women’s basketball coach at Temple University while concurrently playing for the WNBA (Charlotte Sting). After transitioning to South Carolina from Temple, her 2023–2024 team completed the season with a 38-0 record, becoming one of the few programs in Division I history to finish a season undefeated. Staley served as the head coach for the U.S. Women’s National Team during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where the team took home the gold. She’s the first person in U.S.A. Basketball history to win an Olympic gold medal as both a player and a head coach. In addition, Staley was selected as the U.S. flag bearer for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, becoming the first U.S.A. Basketball athlete to do so. She was chosen by fellow U.S. team captains. To the news Staley admitted, “It’s a tremendous honor. I’m invisible most of the time. I am still in total disbelief.”  

Killing it in her career, breaking records left and right, and yet she felt invisible. This is a big part of why we collectively were riding for her so hard. Many of us had discerning mothers (and grandmothers and aunties) who prayed for us when we didn’t have the discernment to pray for ourselves. And many of us also grew up in the projects of North Philly or similar types of neighborhoods on the South Side of Chicago or East Oakland but also in lofty New York City brownstones and expansive ranch homes in Baldwin Hills. The geographic location isn’t nearly as significant as the fact that growing up as a Black girl in America with an unquestionable talent and the discipline to nurture that talent and strive for something bigger than your zip code takes gumption and resilience. We all see that in Staley. It is largely why when we saw Auriemma screaming in her face, after her team had just won no less, we weren’t having it. Nah, bruh. Our sis’ deserved better. And it was Easter Weekend. We had time. So, we (loudly) called out his unprofessionalism, lack of accountability and poor sportsmanship on every platform. En masse. And danggit, someone at the University of Connecticut paid attention.

Fast forward to Tuesday night, Coach Auriemma released a statement stating that he “lost” himself with his behavior toward South Carolina coach Dawn Staley during his team’s Final Four defeat last Friday. Staley’s name was included in the statement four times. He took ownership for his actions.

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When we as a community work as a team, we can create positive change. Staley, whose Gamecocks eventually lost to UCLA for the championship title, has publicly declared that she’s ready to turn the page from all of this. Her resolve is yet another sign of her strategic leadership. Is it time for us to stand in a circle, hold hands and sing Kumbaya? Probably not. But Auriemma issuing his second statement is absolutely something to acknowledge.

Because if this entire ordeal has taught us nothing else it is that a win is a win.  

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