Jason Whitlock: “This will be my last controversial statement of today... But, South Carolina -- all of this pretending like they were somehow magically coached to this championship... Anybody who watched that game with a slightly critical eye – that 6’7”, 290-pound center [Kamilla Cardoso] and a couple of the other girls that came off the bench, [Ashlyn] Watkins in particular, gave them such a huge rebounding advantage. All season these guys knew they could just throw up any shot that they wanted and it’s going to get rebounded and put back in the bucket. It makes you more confident with any shot you take on the perimeter. You’re just totally liberated and free, and you can shoot with confidence.
I’m sorry for saying it but it’s just factual – there was no great strategy deployed in going 38-0. They had an incredible size advantage, not just in height but in width with Cardoso. There was no coaching clinic had, and it’s embarrassing that they lost to Iowa last year with the talent advantage that they had. Dawn Staley is not a great coach, or she hasn’t proven to be a great coach. She acquires talent and she gets out of the way. She brings her dog to practice, and roll outs [the ball]. Anybody that watched that game, that was not some strategic masterpiece that was put together."
Watch Jason Whitlock of Blaze TV’s Fearless discuss recent reports of South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley being rumored as a potential coaching candidate for the Charlotte Hornets, with Whitlock pushing back at the idea of Staley being some sort of X’s and O’s maestro who could become the first woman to make the jump to the NBA head coaching ranks.
In December of 2022, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said he would be 'hugely disappointed' if the NBA doesn't hire their first female head coach within the next five years.
Despite Staley’s Gamecocks going a perfect 38-0 this season and defeating Caitlin Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes in the National Championship, Whitlock says it had little to do with actual 'coaching' from Staley, and simply from South Carolina having a massive size advantage.
South Carolina out-rebounded Iowa 51-29, and grabbed 18 offensive rebounds compared to Iowa’s seven. The Gamecocks also compiled 30 second-chance points compared to 16 for the Hawkeyes.
South Carolina center Kamilla Cardoso had 17 rebounds, including seven on the offensive glass for a Gamecocks team that ranked first in Power 5 in blocks and rebounds.
The 6’7” Cardoso was no match for any defender undersized Iowa had, who starts four guards around 6’2” center Hannah Stuelke. Stuelke had just three rebounds in the National Championship, and the 6'0" Clark led the Hawkeyes in rebounds with eight, with no other Iowa player accounting for more than five.
Backup Iowa center Addison O'Grady is 6’3”, but averaged just 3.9 points this season in 8.8 minutes, and didn’t score a single point in 13 minutes against South Carolina.
Check out the segment above as Whitlock says Staley has yet to prove she’s actually a good coach, and has only shown us that she can recruit dominant post players who bully opposing teams through sheer size, which then creates a feeding frenzy for Gamecock shooters on the perimeter who can simply launch up shots with no fear of them being missed since the offensive rebound-put back is South Carolina’s best strategy.
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