On Saturday, South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley was asked her opinion about trans inclusion in women’s sports. Her answer, as Staley predicted, was not received well.
As Staley and the Gamecocks prepared to play for the national championship on Sunday, Outkick’s Dan Zakasheske asked Staley whether she thinks males identifying as women should be able to play women’s basketball.
After a few moments, Staley replied, “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.”
Staley added, “That’s my opinion.”
“Do you think transgender women should be able to participate?” Zaksheske asked.
It’s interesting that Staley considers the implications to her social media timeline to be greater than the implications of the endorsement she just gave to males identifying as females infiltrating women’s sports.
If a man with average basketball skills decided to play for South Carolina, he would likely beat out a female player on the current roster. Lia Thomas was a thoroughly mediocre swimmer on the men’s side and began beating Olympians and Olympic-caliber competition on the women’s side, so there’s very recent precedent to support that assertion.
In other words, Staley just put the roster status of every woman on her team and every woman in college basketball in extreme jeopardy. But, you know, her timeline is the real issue.
It should also be noted, as it was noted on X, that Staley once canceled a basketball game against BYU over a completely unfounded charge of racism. Yet, she could not be bothered to defend women’s rights in sports.
Staley herself, a women’s Hall of Famer and Team USA member as a player, would never have realized the success she had as a player if she had to play against men. But, I guess since her career is over, she seems content, leaving open the floodgates to trans infiltration to the current group of female players.
In any event, Staley’s prediction of a lively timeline was quite accurate.
Iowa will play South Carolina for the national championship at 3 P.M. EST.