Dawn Staley knows great talent when she sees it. The South Carolina Women’s Basketball coach is coming off of leading her team to the 2023 National Championship, which is her second in her 16 seasons with the program.
Staley is also a five-time WNBA All Star in her eight seasons in the league. And at the college level she was no slouch either where she started for the Virginia Cavaliers for four years, averaging 16.3 points 5.9 rebounds and 5.6 assists. During her time in Charlottesville, she also won the Naismith Award for national player of the year twice.
Given these accolades, when she comments on current players, people pay attention. And two of these players she was asked about were former LSU Tigers star Angel Reese and her rival Caitlin Clark. Reese and Clark are both having outstanding rookie seasons in the WNBA, and Staley was recently asked by TMZ Sports who she thought was having a better season.
What did Dawn Staley say about Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark?
Staley seemed confident in her response in saying that she thinks Reese is having a better rookie year. “They (are) both having great years. But if I had to pick a Rookie of the Year…Today it’s Angel (Reese). Not a doubt.”
“They [are] both having great years. But if I had to pick a Rookie of the Year… Today it’s Angel [Reese]. Not a doubt.”
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) July 13, 2024
Do you agree with Dawn Staley? 🤔
(via @TMZ_Sports)pic.twitter.com/arSE87F7Xn
The “not a doubt” statement on the end was not necessary, but the fact that Staley felt the need to emphatically add it shows her level of confidence in what she sees from Reese.
After winning the national championship in 2022, Reese and the Tigers fell short falling to Caitlin Clark and the eventual national runner-up Iowa Hawkeyes in the Elite Eight in the 2023 season.
It appears that Reese is using this as motivation to ascend toward the top of the WNBA. And if Staley sees it, that is pretty bullet proof.