CLEVELAND – For the fourth time, South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley is the Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year.
Staley was announced as this season’s winner of the award ahead of this weekend’s Final Four. It is Staley’s third consecutive year winning the award, and her fourth time winning it in five years.
After winning the award for the fourth time, only UConn’s Geno Auriemma and Tennessee’s Pat Summit have won the award more than Staley, at eight and five times, respectively.
Staley has led the Gamecocks to a 36-0 record and a Final Four appearance for the second consecutive year, despite entering this season with an entirely new starting five after last season’s went to the WNBA Draft.
South Carolina has been the No. 1 team in the polls since the second week of the season.
Senior center Kamilla Cardoso was a finalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year. Stanford forward Cameron Brink was selected as the winner.
SCOUTING REPORT: South Carolina women’s basketball vs NC State prediction in Final Four: Who advances to NCAA championship?
No. 1 South Carolina will tip off against No. 3 NC State (31-6) in the Final Four on Friday (7 p.m., ESPN) at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Evan Gerike covers South Carolina women’s basketball for the Greenville News. Email him at egerike@citizentimes.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanGerike.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Dawn Staley wins fourth Naismith Coach of the Year for South Carolina
