“The more I’m arguing with the officials, the less I trust my team”: When Dawn Staley presented a unique analogy of keeping her cool on court

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley has brought the Gamecocks to three national championships in her 16 seasons at the school. Perhaps, one of the many factors that sets her apart from other coaches is the fact that she has a knack for keeping her cool when it comes to dealing with in-game officials.

Unlike LSU Tigers coach Kim Mulkey or even UConn Huskies men's coach Dan Hurley, she is not known for bizarre reactions to calls.

On "Taking the Pulse: A Health Care and Life Sciences Video Podcast" on YouTube in July, Staley shared why she steers away from arguing with the officials too much as this could negatively impact her team's morale.

"I had to evaluate myself," Staley said (Timestamp: 6:14). "I do evaluate and find myself, the more I am arguing or talking or communicating with officials, the less I trust my team. You're looking for a little bit of help from the officials because you don't think you got a good enough to win the basketball game, to win a quarter or win possession. So, you're looking for help somewhere."

Her attitude has led South Carolina to be one of the premier destinations for any top-name prospect. Some of her alumni have since become standout names in the WNBA such as A'ja Wilson and Aliyah Boston.

Staley is ramping her squad up for a potential national championship repeat come April. The second-ranked Gamecocks are 9-1 against ranked foes this season, beating the 18th-ranked Tennessee Volunteers 70-63 on Monday on the road.

Dawn Staley details the kind of evaluation she has in order to trust her team

Dawn Staley shared that in order to argue less with the referees, she needs to instill belief and trust in her players that they can execute their game plan effectively. Relying on the habits they've built in practices, the former Charlotte Sting cog detailed the kind of evaluation she had in the 2024 national title game to rely on her team better.

"One, as I'm evaluating the game, I see Iowa is doing exactly what we said they would do in the scouting report," Staley said (Timestamp: 7:15). "We were doing exactly what we needed to do, but we weren't making our shots, excellent shots. And then, one of the keys to the game was Iowa's post players' ability to run down the floor in transition and Caitlin Clark having her assists.

"All the assists that she averaged, half of them was to her post players in transition. So, if I'm calling a timeout, our bigs won't know the pace of what their post players are doing because I interrupted that."

Staley and the Gamecocks (20-1, 8-0 Southeastern Conference) will look to sustain their success against the visiting Auburn Tigers on Sunday.