It Takes Two to Tango: The Dance of Womanhood and Black Excellence in the NCAA

*written in April 2022*

Each year, 64 teams start dancing in March to compete for a spot on the world’s biggest stage for women's basketball: the NCAA women's final four. Many teams try and only a few succeed.

But if you've followed women's college basketball, this year’s Final Four featured four very familiar faces—UConn, Stanford, Louisville, and South Carolina. UConn, headed by Geno Auriemma, has seen four championships in the last 9 years. Auriemma has tallied a total of 11 championships during his time as UConn’s head coach.

The final matchup between UConn and USC felt mighty familiar as this marked the 12th time they've met in the Final Four. Before the game, the series record was 8-4 (UConn). 

But Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks wasted no time taming the Huskies, ultimately beating them with ease 64-49. 

To normal basketball fans, it may just feel good to see the NCAA tournament back after the year long hiatus. But, for Black people—especially black female athletes and coaches— this win marks something more meaningful, something cherishable—something worth more than just one on-court celebration. 

Today marks the 8th day since Dawn Staley became the first Black Division 1 coach in history, male or female, to win two NCAA titles. This past season approximately 20% of D1 women’s basketball coaches were black women, and 24 percent of all D1 men's basketball coaches were black. So, statistically, Dawn Staley’s accomplishment was statistically improbable. But she made it happen. Her dedication to her craft as a coach of a team full of strong young women justifies her standing as a trailblazer for black women in sports.

Getting to watch her lifelong success as a player and coach, gain wisdom from her through one on one conversation, and witness both of her national championship wins has not only made me an unwavering Dawn Staley fan, but has also shown me what resilience and black womanhood looks like. Everything about Staley—her walk, her talk, confidence, swagger, and intellect— demonstrates the beauty that is Black womanhood despite almost every odd being against her.

To Staley, adversity is the black community's advantage, and when given opportunities like she was to shine on one of the sports world’s biggest stages, Staley is confident that we will perform. Who better to persuade us than one of the greatest to ever do it?

Dawn’s leadership has inspired athletes, including her own players, to spread their wings as wide as possible in every effort to chase after what’s theirs. Thanks to the passing of the NIL Law by the NCAA, a number of her players including Destanni Henderson, Zia Cooke, Breanna Beal, and Aliyah Boston have taken advantage of the opportunity to profit from their hard work and determination as student athletes. Having a Coach as strong and relentlessly loving and supportive as Dawn Staley to support them in these endeavors undoubtedly keeps these women pushing towards creating more visibility for black female athletes everywhere. My hugest congratulations to Dawn Staley and the South Carolina Gamecocks for showing black women everywhere what it looks like to defeat the odds and embrace adversity for the better.