Dawn Staley Discusses the Struggles of Having Such a Talented South Carolina Roster

Dawn Staley's South Carolina Gamecocks squad produced another dominant win on Sunday, as they defeated the University of South Florida Bulls by a score of 78-62.

Per usual, the Gamecocks showcased a well-balanced offensive attack, as they had five players scoring in double digits with nobody scoring more than 15. 10 players also saw at least 14 minutes in Sunday's win.

It's rare for a women's college basketball team to have such a deep roster full of talented players. While this speaks volumes about the program Staley has built, she also noted how being so deep doesn't make her job any easier when speaking to the media on Sunday.

"We play consistently 10 [players], which is hard," Staley said, per WACH reporter Jared Parker. "We've got 13. So the three other players that don't play, they're sitting, they just saw for 38 minutes. And that we put them in, and our expectation is you don't give up any points, and you push the lead forward. That's our expectation.

"It's hard though," Staley continued. "I say for the 10 players, it's hard as well because if someone has got it going on, more times than not, we're going to play them until the cows come home, right? That means somebody's minutes are shrinking."

She continued, "You really have to explain to young people that's how it is. Or else they'll think 'I'm not doing what I'm supposed to do'... And that's the furthest from it... It's not anything wrong with what they're doing. It's more about what their [South Carolina] competitors are doing, and it's a healthy competition."

.@dawnstaley spoke about the challenges of sharing minutes with such a talented roster. "We play consistently 10, which is hard."

.@GamecockWBB @wachfox pic.twitter.com/S0WdvNiPD7
— Jared Parker (@jaredparkertv) December 15, 2024

While Staley has a fair point, this is certainly a challenge that any basketball coach would like to have.