“Dawn Staley was apparently sick of hearing about Caitlin Clark; now it’s Paige Bueckers”: Analyst reacts to South Carolina HC’s take on “narratives”

Dawn Staley's South Carolina is set to take on Paige Bueckers and the UConn Huskies in the NCAA Tournament championship game on Sunday. After an undefeated season run to a championship last year, the Gamecocks are back to defend their title.

Despite that achievement, South Carolina coach Dawn Staley seems to be upset with the media "narratives" and how her team is covered compared to Paige Bueckers, who seems to be on every headline. Analyst Robin Lundberg discussed this on his YouTube channel on Saturday.

"Dawn Staley was apparently sick of hearing about Caitlin Clark and now the same goes for Paige Beckers," he said.

Last season, the Iowa Hawkeyes, led by Caitlin Clark, were the biggest news as the future No. 1 WNBA draft pick led her team back to the national title game, where they lost to the Gamecocks. Staley wanted the coverage to be equal, but Lundberg had an interesting take on it.

"The problem with that is Staley is the star for South Carolina, the most recognizable face and name," he said. "And that's been that way because of how she's built the program and because of the depth of South Carolina right now not being a team based around a star."

"So Geno Auriemma versus Dawn Staley is certainly a media storyline. The other one is Paige Beckers, and that's just the way the business works and the way it's going to be. I think for Dawn Staley to get the coverage that she wants, well, the simple way to do that is to beat UConn in the national championship game."

What did Dawn Staley actually say about Paige Bueckers?

During the pregame presser on Saturday, Dawn Staley addressed the media and talked about the popular narrative that has taken over the news this weekend.

While she acknowledged Paige Bueckers' potential to be the number one pick in the WNBA draft, an Olympian and more, the South Carolina coach felt that it was overshadowing her team.

"But when you put a narrative out there, everybody sees that and it puts us at a disadvantage whether you want to believe so or not," she said. "Officials see it, it's all over TikTok, it's all over SportsCenter. ... She's a great player, but just because you're a great player doesn't mean you need to win a national championship to legitimize it."

Staley went on to talk about how Paige Bueckers has been legit since her time in Minnesota and said that she would be a legend at UConn, whether she wins a national championship or not.

"I just want to put that out there," she said. "I can't not address it because it's happening like it happened to us last year. Everything was about Caitlin Clark and her legacy and her ability to win a national championship. Yet, we were coming in this thing undefeated doing something that's unprecedented at the time 'cause it's hard.

"We find ourselves back here in a similar situation. I want the sentiments to be about our players and what our players have been able to do equally because there's there's room to do both."

Dawn Staley and the South Carolina Gamecocks will take on Paige Bueckers' UConn on Sunday at 3 p.m. EST and will be broadcast on ABC. This will be a revenge game of sorts, as the Huskies lost their only championship game in history to the Gamecocks in 2022.