Dawn Staley advocates for transgender athletes in women’s sports

South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley addressed the media on Saturday to discuss her team’s upcoming National Championship matchup against Iowa on Sunday. However, the biggest statement Staley made had nothing to do with the game whatsoever, instead advocating for transgender women to be able to compete in women’s sports.

Staley fielded several questions about the upcoming game. But she was also asked about her opinion of whether or not transgender athletes should be able to compete in women’s college basketball, definitively saying that she believes any transgender athlete identifying as a woman should be able to play.

“Damn, you got deep on me,” Staley joked. “I’m under the opinion of if you are a woman, you should play. If you consider yourself a woman and you want to play sports, you should be able to play. That’s my opinion. Do you want me to go deeper? Yes, so now the barnstorm of people are going to flood my timeline and be a distraction to me on one of the biggest days of our game. And I’m okay with that.”

Here's the video and transcript:

"If you consider yourself a woman and you want to play sports or vice versa, you should be able to play."

"Now the barnstormer people are going to flood my timeline and be a distraction to me … and I'm okay with that. I really am." pic.twitter.com/DjHC12TH8n

— Lindsay Gibbs (@linzsports) April 6, 2024

This topic has been highly debated for years now, so it is safe to say this is a pretty big statement from one of the most prominent coaches in the college game.

Understandably, it appeared quite clear that Staley wasn’t all that thrilled to receive the question because it may take some focus away from her team ahead of their big game.

Regardless, Staley is seemingly all of inclusivity in the sport, which is certainly admirable to a large majority of college basketball fans.

Dawn never disappoints. A great person, coach, and leader.

— J Good (@luneytuna) April 6, 2024

I wish more coaches would speak up about this!

— HerkyBrigade (@herkybrigade) April 6, 2024

I take back anything negative I ever said about you dawn 🐐🐐

— 🌲 (@HailCardHail) April 6, 2024

I like Dawn Staley even more.

— Paula Farina (@Pafar) April 6, 2024

[Lindsay Grubbs on Twitter/X]