(NewsWorthy.news) – The head coach of the South Carolina women’s basketball team is under fire for expressing support for men competing against women in sports.
Dawn Staley, who led the team to beat Iowa during the NCAA women’s championship on April 7, made the pro-trans athletes remarks the day before when she was participating in a press conference.
At the time, Dan Zaksheske of OutKick asked the coach what she thought about men who identify as women competing against biological females in sporting events. Staley responded by saying that all women “should play,” including a man who “consider[s] yourself a woman.”
In response to the question of whether she believed gender confused men “should be” allowed to play in women’s college basketball, the coach simply said, “Yes.” Staley added that she expected backlash from conservatives on social media, saying she is “OK with that.”
As predicted, the coach did receive pushback for her comments. Notably, NCAA swimmer and women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines took to X to respond to the comments. Via an April 6 post, the star University of Kentucky athlete said that the coach “knows perfectly well” that there are major gaps between men’s and women’s basketball, calling the former a “totally different sport.”
Gaines specifically noted that the speed at which men play, the size of the ball they play with, and the “sheer amount of layups” rather than dunks when it comes to fast breaks are all key differences in the game when played by men.
British journalist and show host Piers Morgan also contributed to the debate, writing on social media that, following the “logic” presented by Staley, NBA star LeBron James could play in the WNBA if he “says he’s a woman.” Morgan blasted this possibility as “utterly ridiculous.”
Chris Manno, a former NFL player, chimed in to call Staley’s remark an “absolutely ridiculous statement.” He added that her words were an example of absurd comments made in the name of “self-preservation” and that the extent to which people take that “is laughable.”
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