Shannon Sharpe Says South Carolina's WBB Team Had More Dominant Run Than UConn's MBB Team

Author:
Andrew Lyon
Apr 09, 2024

With the 2023-34 college basketball season officially over, an intriguing question was brought up on one of the most-watched morning sports in ESPN's First Take: which basketball program had the more dominant run this season: South Carolina's women's basketball team or UConn's men's basketball team? Shannon Sharpe, a regular on the show's Monday and Tuesday episodes, leaned toward the Gamecocks.

"We're splitting hairs here... but I'm gonna say South Carolina because they were on the cusp [of winning it all] last year, and the team that knocked them off, they got that team back," Sharpe articulated. "To go 38-0 -- think about that. Five starters go to the WNBA; I think they had a sixth also that came off the bench and [went] to the WNBA... I think this was the most impressive [run] because this was a young team, and the way Dawn [Staley] was able to guide these young ladies throughout the tournament -- Really only challenged once; it took [Kamilla] Cardoso hitting that shot against Tennessee in the SEC Tournament [to win]."

After Smith made the case for the Huskies, Shannon added to his initial points by throwing out who the Gamecocks defeated and how big the margin of victory was in several instances.

"You look at South Carolina, they beat Iowa by double-digits; they beat UConn by double-digits; they [defeated] LSU twice; they beat a red-hot NC State team [in the Final Four] -- and Raven Johnson had those demons. Stephen A., [last year in the Final Four], Caitlin Clark is ten feet away saying, 'You the last thing on my mind.' and Raven said, 'You know what? I might not score but two or three points this year, but imma make sure you don't have the type of game that you had last year.'"

While not a part of the original conversation, Sharpe put a bow on the topic by emphasizing what this national title victory and undefeated season does for the Gamecocks as far as their historical perception is concerned compared to other programs.

"When you think of preeminent women's college [basketball] programs, the Tennessee's, the UConn's; now you gotta think of the Lady Gamecocks."

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