Dawn Staley and the South Carolina women's basketball program are set to take on No. 1 seed UCLA in the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament national title game on Sunday afternoon.
Friday night, South Carolina took down UConn, with head coaches Staley and Geno Auriemma getting into a public spat.
"There's no excuse for how I handled the end of the game vs. South Carolina," Auriemma said in a statement issued through the school. "It's unlike what I do and what our standard is here at Connecticut. I want to apologize to the staff and the team at South Carolina. It was uncalled for in how I reacted. The story should be how well South Carolina played, and I don't want my actions to detract from that. I've had a great relationship with their staff, and I sincerely want to apologize to them."
Auriemma appeared to be bothered by Staley's behavior when it came to a pregame handshake.
"That's a little disheartening," Staley said. "At the same time, this is sports. Sometimes things like this happen. That's why I'm just going to continue to focus on our team and their ability to advance in this tournament, hopefully win another national championship."
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While Staley is one of the biggest faces in women's college basketball, she keeps her dating life pretty private.
Staley has kept her personal life private as it draws a lot of attention
Staley, 55, has been South Carolina's head coach for 18 seasons. She's won three national titles, reached eight Final Fours in 12 seasons and won 10 SEC regular season championships.
Off of the court, she's kept her dating life private. Her longest relationship, it appears, is that with assistant coach Lisa Boyer.
Staley wrote, "Boyer! We are that old married couple who started young and will grow old together. You put the ride and die in the RIDE and DIE!"
Staley has chosen to keep that part of her life private.
"As Staley remains unmarried, however, fans are left with little confirmed information regarding her dating life or potential marriage plans. The closest she’s come to acknowledging marriage publicly was the social media post marking the 10th anniversary of her arrival in Columbia," AOL.com reported.
"Staley, 55, grew up with three brothers—Anthony, Lawrence, and Eric—and a sister, Tracey. Her father, Clarence, a part-time carpenter, passed away in 2006 after an illness, and her mother, Estelle, died from Alzheimer’s disease in 2017, just months after Staley won her first national championship with South Carolina."
Staley has made it clear that she chooses to keep just about everything private.
"I really didn’t have coaching mentors," Staley says. "I’m more of a private person."
South Carolina and UCLA will tip off at 3:30 p.m. E.T.
