University of South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley isn’t afraid of controversy. The leader of the undefeated Gamecocks said she’d welcome more transgender athletes in women’s sports, even though her message may cause distractions.
More eyeballs on women’s basketball have led to tougher questions for the sport’s top coaches. Ahead of Sunday’s national championship game against Iowa, OutKick’s Dan Zaksheske asked Staley if transgender athletes should be allowed to play with cisgender women.
“If you consider yourself a woman and you want to play sports … you should be able to play,” the two-time national champion said Saturday. “So now the barnstormer people are going to flood my timeline and be a distraction to me on one of the biggest days of our game, and I’m OK with that.”
Iowa coach Lisa Bluder dodged the same question on the hot-button issue during her media availability.
“I understand it’s a topic that people are interested in,” Bluder said. “But today my focus is on the game tomorrow … But I know it’s an important issue for another time.”
Current NCAA guidelines allow transgender athletes to participate in women’s sports as long as their testosterone level falls below prescribed limits that can vary from sport to sport.
Though there were no openly transgender athletes in Division I women’s basketball this season, the issue has remained at the forefront of national conversations.
“I wonder if Dawn Staley also supports 18u playing with 12u, or heavyweights fighting the featherweights, or Olympians competing in the Paralympics,” said Riley Gaines, a former Kentucky swimmer who opposes transgender athletes. “It always sucks seeing a well-established woman who has broken barriers for women in sports turn into a sellout in the name of ‘inclusion.’”
• Liam Griffin can be reached at lgriffin@washingtontimes.com.
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