Ahead of their national championship game against Iowa, South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley was asked by OutKick’s Dan Zaksheske about her thoughts about transgender participation in women’s sports.
“I’m of the opinion of, 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. That’s my opinion. You want me to go deeper?” she said.
When asked whether she thought “transgender women should be able to participate in women’s college basketball,” Staley responded, “Yes.”
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South Carolina center Kamilla Cardoso greets fans during an NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship celebration at Colonial Life Arena on April 8, 2024 in Columbia, South Carolina. University classes that were scheduled during the event were canceled. The South Carolina Gamecocks defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes 87-75 to cap a perfect season. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
“That’s the question you want to ask, I’ll give you that. Yes, yes. So, now the barnstormer 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 OK with that. I really am,” she added.
It wasn’t that much of a distraction, as the Gamecocks completed their undefeated season by winning the title game.
In a celebratory event at a South Carolina Raising Cane’s, Kamilla Cardoso was asked by Fox News Digital what she made of her head coach’s comments, which she brushed aside.
Kamilla Cardoso attends as South Carolina Women’s Basketball Stars Kamilla Cardoso & MiLaysia Fulwiley post up at Raising Cane’s following undefeated season on April 10, 2024 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Derek White/Getty Image for Raising Cane’s)
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Cardoso ignored the question at hand, and seemed to reflect on the event at the food chain.
“Just enjoy the moment, have fun, just stay together, just have fun,” Cardoso said.
In a follow-up email after the Zoom interview, again asking her thoughts on Staley’s comments and whether she agreed with them or not, Fox News Digital was told Cardoso may not be “available to respond.”
Staley received much criticism from commenters after what she said in her press conference.
“Dawn Staley knows perfectly well that men’s basketball is a totally different sport than women’s basketball,” OutKick contributor Riley Gaines said. “That’s obvious by the speed of the game, the size of the ball … the sheer amount of layups compared to dunks when a player gets a fast break.
South Carolina Gamecocks center Kamilla Cardoso (10) during the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament Championship Game between the LSU Tigers and the South Carolina Gamecocks March 10, 2024 at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C. (John Byrum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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South Carolina state Rep. Adam Morgan wrote, “Our tax dollars shouldn’t fund people and programs pushing these embarrassing ideologies that contradict SC values.”
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