You know, perfection is a funny thing.
You can chase it all season…
34 wins, 3 losses…
command, control, dominance.
It’s a dominance which played out in a 38-0 record in the 2023-24 season.
That’s a helluva chase.
But we saw in real time how the chase
can slip away in one night.
That was the road for Dawn Staley and her South Carolina Gamecocks.
But don’t get me wrong– this isn’t about the loss.
It’s about what happened before…
and what happened after.
Because somewhere along that perfect run…
in a heated moment against Geno Auriemma and UConn…
voices were raised…
emotions spilled over…
and the spotlight got a little uncomfortable. It was an incredible game.
But like we at Next Tally teach young players, what you do on the basketball court, the baseball diamond, the football field, etc. won’t matter if you say and do the wrong things afterwards. It’s the last thing people will be talking about. So instead of the terrific game, the aftermath became the narrative.
But it wasn’t all bad—not for Dawn,(who by the way still bedazzled in one of her colorful outfits). Such an aftermath, with Dawn and Coach Auriemma jawbonin’, is where leadership gets tested.
Not when you’re up 20.
Not when everything is smooth.
Not when players make buckets easier than me tossing snacks in a shopping cart.
But when the temperature rises…
and everybody’s watching.
And here’s what stood out—
Dawn Staley never lost her footing.
No theatrics.
No postgame jabs.
No dragging it into tomorrow.
Just composure.
Just control. Of course she exchanged some choice syllables with Geno, but nothing over the top. And in all fairness, neither of them got really crazy. But you could tell it wasn’t a pleasant exchange. Not by a long shot.
Fast forward to the national title game…
the streak ends…
the perfect season, gone.
And in that moment—
when disappointment has every right to take center stage—
she gathers her team…
her staff…
her fans…
And starts a chant:
“GAMECOCKS! GAMECOCKS! GAMECOCKS!”
That wasn’t about winning.
That was about identity.
About ownership.
About pride… even in defeat. She never left that team. She never left the fans, most of whom remained in the stands.
Moments earlier, heads dropped, jerseys drenched while defeat settled in.
UCLA cheered along with their fans. But as her dejected team headed for the locker room, Staley called them back to the floor. And before you knew it, the “down but not out” team had a cheer of its own. And then the fans joined in:
“GAMECOCKS! GAMECOCKS! GAMECOCKS!” It was all about pride. As the South Carolina players would say during the post-game interviews, “You can’t lose a game like this, if you don’t first make it into the arena”. We made it.
See, we spend a lot of time teaching athletes how to perform.
But not nearly enough time teaching them how to carry it—
in the fire…
and in the fall.
And coaches?
They’re not exempt.
They set the tone.
They are the temperature.
Dawn Staley remind us of that… from dusk… ’til dawn.
Because class…
isn’t revealed when you win.
It’s confirmed when you don’t.
Unk
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