Dawn Staley AP Coach of the Year

[Blakeon18]

South Carolina's Staley wins 2nd AP coach award

Dawn Staley was honored as the Associated Press women's college basketball Coach of the Year for the second time as she again leads an undefeated South Carolina team into the Final Four.

www.espn.com

AP Coach of the Year...Dawn Staley

Quite a few deserving coaches....including our own. Losing all 5 starters from last year and going undefeated [So Far!]
is worthy of that honor.

 

[Skeets]

Geno has done a heck of a job, but I can't itch about Staley. Going undefeated will do the for you.

(Do not speculate on "what if" UConn meets and beats SCar. That is doom for sure...)

 

[Dogdude]

Yeah, (sigh, grumble...) it's deserved. Geno as well, of course, but it's totally deserved.

 

[visitingcock]

Does Lisa Bluder ever get any respect? Yeah, she's got Clark, but she also has a well coached TEAM, and has had success (though more limited) before Clark. Should Geno's coaching ability be overlooked because he has Paige?

Let's face it Geno and Dawn have teams with ten future pros. Lisa has one - maybe two.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

I wouldn't have credited Dawn with COY this year. She has a roster that is by far the most talented and deepest in WCBB. Her second string is arguably more talented than the starters. And next year, even losing Cardozo, she will have an even more talented and formidable team. She has certainly recruited, and for years, the best talent in the nation. Recruiting is certainly a key metric of coaching, so hats off to her on that point. But she really didn't have to do much coaching after she'd finished recruiting.

By contrast, Bluder did have to coach the heck out of her team. She had a superstar, but surrounded with ordinary players without height. It took a tremendous coach to get that crew to the Final Four.

And Coach Geno's task of taking a team that had lost six of its best nine players to injury represents a coaching masterpiece. He got to the Final Four by starting two freshmen, both well regarded, but not superstars, plus a redshirt freshman forward who had incurred a devastating injury before her freshman year, and whose performance was arguably hobbled much of the season.

The voters appear to have gone with the undefeated season that Dawn Staley achieved. That is, undeniably, a tremendous achievement. But were I a voter, I would have gone with either Bluder o rAuriemma. They had the far more difficult task in getting where they are today.

 

[Huskyfan63]

I favor Wes Moore for the award this year. His team was not ranked to start the season, picked to finish 8th in the ACC, with no players on the pre-season All-ACC team. Yet here they are, with as good a chance as the other three teams to win the whole thing.

 

[Jackalope]

Geno certainly deserves to get it, or at least be in the conversation.

You do have to give Dawn credit. Talent doesn't necessarily translate to wins and championships. Look at LSU this year. WIth the addition of Van Lith and Morrow, along with a strong freshman class, LSU was thought to be unbeatable at the start of this season. She couldn't seem to get the chemistry working together despite the talent.

All Dawn did was replace all 5 starters and go undefeated in the very strong SEC conference.

 

[packwrap]

The voters appear to have gone with the undefeated season that Dawn Staley achieved. That is, undeniably, a tremendous achievement. But were I a voter, I would have gone with either Bluder o rAuriemma. They had the far more difficult task in getting where they are today.

Although she had a ton of stockpiled recruits, Dawn is getting credit for losing her whole starting 5 to graduation, and reloading with new players.

They were ranked #6 in week 1 and expected to lose SEC race to LSU.

When they steamrolled Notre Dame in their first game and LSU lost to Colorado, SC moved right to #1 and the drumbeat for Dawn started already.

Coach Rueck for Oregon State, Vic at TX, Bluder and Geno all had great years, but the excitement around their coaching came late season after Dawn had momentum.

 

[Jim]

Let's face it Geno and Dawn have teams with ten future pros. Lisa has one - maybe two.

The question is whether those ten future pros were going to be pros before they got to Geno and Dawn or whether they are future pros because of them.

 

[oldude]

I wouldn't have credited Dawn with COY this year. She has a roster that is by far the most talented and deepest in WCBB. Her second string is arguably more talented than the starters. And next year, even losing Cardozo, she will have an even more talented and formidable team. She has certainly recruited, and for years, the best talent in the nation. Recruiting is certainly a key metric of coaching, so hats off to her on that point. But she really didn't have to do much coaching after she'd finished recruiting.

By contrast, Bluder did have to coach the heck out of her team. She had a superstar, but surrounded with ordinary players without height. It took a tremendous coach to get that crew to the Final Four.

And Coach Geno's task of taking a team that had lost six of its best nine players to injury represents a coaching masterpiece. He got to the Final Four by starting two freshmen, both well regarded, but not superstars, plus a redshirt freshman forward who had incurred a devastating injury before her freshman year, and whose performance was arguably hobbled much of the season.

The voters appear to have gone with the undefeated season that Dawn Staley achieved. That is, undeniably, a tremendous achievement. But were I a voter, I would have gone with either Bluder o rAuriemma. They had the far more difficult task in getting where they are today.

There were a number of past years when Geno fielded loaded teams that went undefeated, and he subsequently was named COY, despite the fact that other coaches may have done more with less talent.

While many believe this season is Geno’s greatest coaching job, the argument for Dawn as COY is that she recruited those players and, at least to this point, she’s done nothing to screw up the team’s performance.

 

[visitingcock]

I wouldn't have credited Dawn with COY this year. She has a roster that is by far the most talented and deepest in WCBB. Her second string is arguably more talented than the starters. And next year, even losing Cardozo, she will have an even more talented and formidable team. She has certainly recruited, and for years, the best talent in the nation. Recruiting is certainly a key metric of coaching, so hats off to her on that point. But she really didn't have to do much coaching after she'd finished recruiting.

By contrast, Bluder did have to coach the heck out of her team. She had a superstar, but surrounded with ordinary players without height. It took a tremendous coach to get that crew to the Final Four.

And Coach Geno's task of taking a team that had lost six of its best nine players to injury represents a coaching masterpiece. He got to the Final Four by starting two freshmen, both well regarded, but not superstars, plus a redshirt freshman forward who had incurred a devastating injury before her freshman year, and whose performance was arguably hobbled much of the season.

The voters appear to have gone with the undefeated season that Dawn Staley achieved. That is, undeniably, a tremendous achievement. But were I a voter, I would have gone with either Bluder o rAuriemma. They had the far more difficult task in getting where they are today.

Actually, her roster is no where near the "deepest." She started the season with a roster of only 11. It is down to 10 now. Most talented? Maybe.

Respect for the rest of your post.

 

[visitingcock]

Geno certainly deserves to get it, or at least be in the conversation.

You do have to give Dawn credit. Talent doesn't necessarily translate to wins and championships. Look at LSU this year. WIth the addition of Van Lith and Morrow, along with a strong freshman class, LSU was thought to be unbeatable at the start of this season. She couldn't seem to get the chemistry working together despite the talent.

All Dawn did was replace all 5 starters and go undefeated in the very strong SEC conference.

the SEC was not "very strong" this year. It was a two team conference.

 

[Childhood]

Well deserved. Her team is undefeated. How can you not give her credit.

 

[HuskyFan1125]

I expected Staley to win and deservingly so but I do have to say something that annoys me.

Yes, they replaced all 5 starters but are we really gonna look over the fact that Johnson and Cardoso averaged more minutes than 2 of those starters ( Fletcher/Saxton). They returned those 2 players who played starter minutes. Fletcher started and Raven Johnson was in the lineup by the first official timeout.

All this nonsense about a whole new team just drives me insane.

I know it’s a semantics i guess but still.

 

[ABCDFE]

I think Dawn did a great job this year. My other contenders: NC State's coach Wes Moore, Iowa's Bluder, USC Gottlieb, and Geno

 

[Glenn]

Her team beat us soundly, despite our 2 all Americans. I would give her the award

 

[nwhoopfan]

I think Dawn did a great job this year. My other contenders: NC State's coach Wes Moore, Iowa's Bluder, USC Gottlieb, and Geno

I would add Rueck from Oregon St. Similar to the job Moore did. Unranked and picked to finish near the bottom of the conference.

 

[CL82]

I think you can make a pretty good argument for Geno given the job he's done getting back to the final four with a severely depleted roster, but this was supposed to be a down year for South Carolina. Staley Made this year's team 'nigh invincible'. She's earned it.

I agree that Bluder is a good coach, but the presumption is that she is riding outstanding player. That's probably at least somewhat unfair, but this award is one and lost on such things.

Congrats to Dawn and South Carolina.

 

[bballnut90]

I wouldn't have credited Dawn with COY this year. She has a roster that is by far the most talented and deepest in WCBB. Her second string is arguably more talented than the starters. And next year, even losing Cardozo, she will have an even more talented and formidable team. She has certainly recruited, and for years, the best talent in the nation. Recruiting is certainly a key metric of coaching, so hats off to her on that point. But she really didn't have to do much coaching after she'd finished recruiting.

By contrast, Bluder did have to coach the heck out of her team. She had a superstar, but surrounded with ordinary players without height. It took a tremendous coach to get that crew to the Final Four.

And Coach Geno's task of taking a team that had lost six of its best nine players to injury represents a coaching masterpiece. He got to the Final Four by starting two freshmen, both well regarded, but not superstars, plus a redshirt freshman forward who had incurred a devastating injury before her freshman year, and whose performance was arguably hobbled much of the season.

The voters appear to have gone with the undefeated season that Dawn Staley achieved. That is, undeniably, a tremendous achievement. But were I a voter, I would have gone with either Bluder o rAuriemma. They had the far more difficult task in getting where they are today.

Dawn replaced an entire starting 5 and has them undefeated. They were picked #6 preseason and #2 in conference. This season reminds me a lot of the 2016-17 UCONN season where UCONN lost a ton of talent from the previous year and came back with a brand new lineup and still dominated women's basketball. Geno deservedly swept any and all COY awards that season. No shade to Bluder/Geno/any other coach, but as clear cut as Clark was for POY this season, Dawn was the clear pick for COY.

 

[bballnut90]

I expected Staley to win and deservingly so but I do have to say something that annoys me.

Yes, they replaced all 5 starters but are we really gonna look over the fact that Johnson and Cardoso averaged more minutes than 2 of those starters ( Fletcher/Saxton). They returned those 2 players who played starter minutes. Fletcher started and Raven Johnson was in the lineup by the first official timeout.

All this nonsense about a whole new team just drives me insane.

I know it’s a semantics i guess but still.

I wouldn't call 18.6 and 18.9 mpg starter minutes (for reference, it's a hair over what Ice Brady averages per game and no one would argue she plays starter minutes). Regardless though, SC lost 6 of their top 8 players from a season ago and has run the table going into the Final Four. Dawn vastly changed their style of play to cater to the different personnel and it has worked incredibly well.

 

[GoUconn7961]

South Carolina's Staley wins 2nd AP coach award

Dawn Staley was honored as the Associated Press women's college basketball Coach of the Year for the second time as she again leads an undefeated South Carolina team into the Final Four.

www.espn.com

AP Coach of the Year...Dawn Staley

Quite a few deserving coaches....including our own. Losing all 5 starters from last year and going undefeated [So Far!]
is worthy of that honor.

Shocker.

 

[HuskyFan1125]

I wouldn't call 18.6 and 18.9 mpg starter minutes (for reference, it's a hair over what Ice Brady averages per game and no one would argue she plays starter minutes). Regardless though, SC lost 6 of their top 8 players from a season ago and has run the table going into the Final Four. Dawn vastly changed their style of play to cater to the different personnel and it has worked incredibly well.

I’m not trying to argue. I agree she deserved to win.

I’m just annoyed at the refernece that it’s a “whole new team”. And i understand your minutes point but my point was that it was more than 2 of the starters!

 

[Dogdude]

It keeps getting mentioned that Dawn has an incredibly talented team, and that she should have won, but part of coaching is recruiting all those players, making sure they fit into the system before they arrive, and then keeping things moving. For that reason, I do put Dawn at the top, with Geno right there with her. Two can;t win, so it goes to the undefeated team.

 

[RadfordRam]

I wouldn't have credited Dawn with COY this year. She has a roster that is by far the most talented and deepest in WCBB. Her second string is arguably more talented than the starters. And next year, even losing Cardozo, she will have an even more talented and formidable team. She has certainly recruited, and for years, the best talent in the nation. Recruiting is certainly a key metric of coaching, so hats off to her on that point. But she really didn't have to do much coaching after she'd finished recruiting.

By contrast, Bluder did have to coach the heck out of her team. She had a superstar, but surrounded with ordinary players without height. It took a tremendous coach to get that crew to the Final Four.

And Coach Geno's task of taking a team that had lost six of its best nine players to injury represents a coaching masterpiece. He got to the Final Four by starting two freshmen, both well regarded, but not superstars, plus a redshirt freshman forward who had incurred a devastating injury before her freshman year, and whose performance was arguably hobbled much of the season.

The voters appear to have gone with the undefeated season that Dawn Staley achieved. That is, undeniably, a tremendous achievement. But were I a voter, I would have gone with either Bluder o rAuriemma. They had the far more difficult task in getting where they are today.

Dawn absolutely deserved to be coach of the year. Undefeated National Championship with 5 new starters. Beat Geno by 20, beat Bluder by 12, multiple wins over Mulkey. Take your personal feelings for her out of it!

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Geno has done a heck of a job, but I can't itch about Staley. Going undefeated will do the for you.

(Do not speculate on "what if" UConn meets and beats SCar. That is doom for sure...)

What Dawn Staley is going at South Carolina makes her one of the greatest. Her team destroyed the opposition all year long. So proud of Connecticut, especially making the Final Four and coming within a possession of making the championship game. But South Carolina, even without Camilla Cardoso, destroyed Connecticut during the season, and pulled away from Iowa for a double-digit win. That makes Staley's season one of the greatest ever.

Though I would have liked Coach Geno to have been considered with the finalists, Coach Staley accomplished this year, and in her previous years, something truly great.