At the Women’s Final Four game on Friday night, Dawn Staley’s South Carolina Gamecocks took down the undefeated UConn Huskies, 62–48, at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix. But the dominant win by the Gamecocks took a backseat as Staley and UConn head coach Geno Auriemma’s heated exchange on the sideline took center stage following the game.
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With seconds on the shot clock, Auriemma, who was complaining about the officiating and Staley’s communication style as the fourth quarter began, attempted to put her in her place as they started to shake hands. Soon afterwards, they began yelling at each other and had to be separated by their respective assistant coaches.
Proving he was big mad and a sore loser, Auriemma walked to the locker room without congratulating the Gamecocks’ coaching staff. Unable to control his emotions, he left his team and staff on the court to display the sportsmanship and class that he lacked. The optics could not have been worse as a white male coach sought to make it all about himself during a Black woman’s moment of glory.
That’s classic white male privilege.
Following the game, Staley said she didn’t know why Auriemma approached her that way, and she stood on her integrity as a coach.
“I have no idea, but I’m going to let you know this: I’m of integrity. I’m of integrity,” Staley told ESPN’s Holly Rowe. “So if I did something wrong to Geno, I had no idea what I did, I guess he thought I didn’t shake his hand at the beginning of the game, I didn’t know, I went down there pregame, shook everybody on his staff’s hand, I don’t know what we came with after the game, but hey sometimes things get heated. We move on.”
In her press conference, Staley said that Auriemma’s outburst was the reason behind the altercation.
“He’s the one who initiated,” Staley said when asked about the incident. I don’t want what happened there to dampen what we were able to accomplish today.”
During his postgame news conference, Auriemma claimed that he confronted Staley because he felt disrespected that she didn’t shake his hand before the game.
“For 41 years I’ve been coaching, 25 Final Fours, and before the game, the protocol is you meet at halfcourt,” Auriemma said. “Anybody ever see that before? Two coaches meet at halfcourt and shake hands. Correct? Ever see it? They announce it on the loudspeaker. And I waited there for like three minutes. (shrugs) So it is what it is.”
“I said what I said, and obviously she didn’t like it,” he added.
Quick to bring out the receipts, ESPN showed footage of the coaches shaking hands before the game started. Not to mention that he skipped the aftergame handshake, a blatant disregard of the NCAA’s protocol and tradition.
That’s classic white male privilege.
Auriemma also said that Sarah Strong, one of his star players, had her jersey ripped by one of the Gamecocks
Speaking to the press, Strong admitted she tore her own jersey out of frustration.
Staley’s win over Auriemma was about more than college basketball. It was another victory for women against the pervasive, undying power of white male privilege and patriarchy in the sports world. Once the domain of white men, Staley’s mere presence on the sidelines is an act of Black resistance, and her track record of success, reaching six straight Final Fours, is revolutionary and undeniable.
The brutal genius of white male privilege is that it can feign innocence while being guilty as hell. But it’s a new day, and in this is the Dawn Staley era of women’s college basketball; she will not be genuflecting to the throne of white maleness. Auriemma and others like him will have to pull up a seat and watch Dawn Staley keep on winning because she’s just getting started.
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