Dawn Staley did a masterful job guiding a young South Carolina team back to the Final Four with an undefeated record for the second straight season.
Staley was honored Thursday as the Associated Press women’s college basketball Coach of the Year for the second time. She received 27 votes from the 35-member national media panel that votes on the AP Top 25 each week. Staley also won the award in 2020.
She joins an elite group of coaches that includes Geno Auriemma (9), Muffet McGraw (4), Kim Mulkey (3) and Brenda Frese (2) who have won the AP award multiple times since it was first given in 1995.
Lindsay Gottlieb of USC, Felisha Legette-Jack of Syracuse and Scott Rueck of Oregon State tied for second with two votes each. Voting was done before the NCAA tournament.
South Carolina faces NC State on Friday in a national semifinal (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) and is the favorite to win its second title in three years and third overall, all since 2017. The Gamecocks are two wins from completing the 10th undefeated season in Division I history.
Staley has rebuilt the program into a power since she arrived in 2008, and last year’s team was expected to add another championship until Iowa knocked off the Gamecocks in the Final Four. This season, Staley had to replace her entire…
