ADVERTISEMENT

WBB (LONG): A comparison of Dawn and Geno

GarnetGhost

Active Member
Apr 22, 2014
1,361
1,910
113
I am going to compare each coach's first 9 years. The reason for 9 years is that Dawn has only completed 9 years at USC. She is presently in her 10th season and Geno is in his 33rd season at Uconn.

Both coaches had their first winning season in year 3.

Conference regular season titles are 4 for Dawn and 3 for Geno in the first 9 years. (Geno won his 4th Conference regular season title in year 10 plus 10 more in the next 10 years.)

Conference tournament titles are 3 for Dawn and 3 for Geno in the first 9 years. (Geno did win 8 more Conference tournament championships in the next 8 years.)

First NCAA tournament appearance is year 4 as an 8 seed for Geno and year 4 as a 5 seed for Dawn.

In his first 9 years Geno had the Huskies in the NCAA tournament 6 times. These 6 appearances include 2 S16, 2 E8 and 1 FF.

In her first 9 years Dawn has had the Gamecocks in the NCAA tournament 6 times. These 6 appearances include 5 S16, 3 E8, 2 FF and 1 National Championship.

Geno won his first National Championship in year 10 and his next National Championship did not come until year 15.

Dawn's record as a coach compares favorably to Geno's. Not to say South Carolina will become the next Uconn. Likely no team will reach the heights the Huskies have but I believe the future is bright for Dawn and the Gamecocks.
 
Probably still got a ways to go, but we've come a long way.

When I was at school in 81 or 82 I went through a McDonald's (I think) drive through late at night and Sheila Foster took my order. Here's one of the Lady Gamecocks' all time greats and she's working a fast food job in the off season (I think).

I got her autograph to go with my hamburger and fries.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SCcocks4ever
Probably still got a ways to go, but we've come a long way.

When I was at school in 81 or 82 I went through a McDonald's (I think) drive through late at night and Sheila Foster took my order. Here's one of the Lady Gamecocks' all time greats and she's working a fast food job in the off season (I think).

I got her autograph to go with my hamburger and fries.

Sheila Foster was a great Gamecock. I was there in ‘81.
 
Comparing Dawn to Geno? She comes out very favorable in recruiting .... honestly a far distant second to Auriemma in teaching fundamentals, game strategy, game management, overall team discipline and her philosophy of the game from a coaching standpoint. That's not what a lot of Gamecock fans want to hear, but it's the truth. Don't worry though, women's basketball success is more predicated on recruiting success (because of the more shallow pool of exceptional talent) than football, baseball, or even men's basketball. As a great recruiter, Coach Staley should be able to get enough good players to keep us in the top ten for a long time.
 
  • Like
Reactions: roosterbell
I am going to compare each coach's first 9 years. The reason for 9 years is that Dawn has only completed 9 years at USC. She is presently in her 10th season and Geno is in his 33rd season at Uconn.

Both coaches had their first winning season in year 3.

Conference regular season titles are 4 for Dawn and 3 for Geno in the first 9 years. (Geno won his 4th Conference regular season title in year 10 plus 10 more in the next 10 years.)

Conference tournament titles are 3 for Dawn and 3 for Geno in the first 9 years. (Geno did win 8 more Conference tournament championships in the next 8 years.)

First NCAA tournament appearance is year 4 as an 8 seed for Geno and year 4 as a 5 seed for Dawn.

In his first 9 years Geno had the Huskies in the NCAA tournament 6 times. These 6 appearances include 2 S16, 2 E8 and 1 FF.

In her first 9 years Dawn has had the Gamecocks in the NCAA tournament 6 times. These 6 appearances include 5 S16, 3 E8, 2 FF and 1 National Championship.

Geno won his first National Championship in year 10 and his next National Championship did not come until year 15.

Dawn's record as a coach compares favorably to Geno's. Not to say South Carolina will become the next Uconn. Likely no team will reach the heights the Huskies have but I believe the future is bright for Dawn and the Gamecocks.

No doubt GA is the best in the business at this time. But UCONN plays in a very weak conference. Yes, they venture out of conference and play some very tough teams but I would like to see what they would do on a regular basis, week after week, year after year in a conference such as the SEC. In my opinion, Pat Summit accomplished more than GA.
 
Comparing Dawn to Geno? She comes out very favorable in recruiting .... honestly a far distant second to Auriemma in teaching fundamentals, game strategy, game management, overall team discipline and her philosophy of the game from a coaching standpoint. That's not what a lot of Gamecock fans want to hear, but it's the truth. Don't worry though, women's basketball success is more predicated on recruiting success (because of the more shallow pool of exceptional talent) than football, baseball, or even men's basketball. As a great recruiter, Coach Staley should be able to get enough good players to keep us in the top ten for a long time.

Geno is now in his 33rd season as a head coach. He has had the luxury of all of it being at one school. He should have perfected his craft by now. Dawn by comparison is in her 19th season as a head coach. The first 9 years at Temple.

Give Dawn another 14 years to perfect her craft and then a fair comparison can be made. IMHO Geno is the best WBB coach of all time, although a good case can be made for Pat Summitt who coached for 38 years. Give Dawn the time these two greats have had and then see where she stands. Dawn can and will learn a lot more about coaching in the next 14 years hopefully spent at South Carolina.

I forgot to mention that Geno spent 4 years as an assistant coach at Virginia before becoming the head coach at Uconn. Dawn's entire collegiate coaching career has been as a head coach.
 
Last edited:
Tell that to 10K plus Gamecock WBB season ticket holders. All Gamecock teams (women too) matter to a lot of fans.

You are wrong. Fact of the matter is that football and men’s basketball are truly the only things that really matter. Folks will jump on a winner as long as it has USC sewn on the uniform. Baseball is much the same way. Not that it doesn’t matter I don’t guess, but when the big time winning stops, folks just don’t care. Football and men’s basketball dominate the water cooler talk win or lose. Matter of fact, around my office, I’m not sure I have heard much water cooler talk about WBB even when they are winning big. It is what it is.
 
You are wrong. Fact of the matter is that football and men’s basketball are truly the only things that really matter. Folks will jump on a winner as long as it has USC sewn on the uniform. Baseball is much the same way. Not that it doesn’t matter I don’t guess, but when the big time winning stops, folks just don’t care. Football and men’s basketball dominate the water cooler talk win or lose. Matter of fact, around my office, I’m not sure I have heard much water cooler talk about WBB even when they are winning big. It is what it is.

Sure am glad my life doesn't revolve around what the water cooler gang thinks is important.
 
It is just impossible to have a thread on this board without sarcastic, negativity on USC. Just because you dont follow women's sports when its clear many in SC do as our ladies lead the nation in attendance.
 
Geno is now in his 33rd season as a head coach. He has had the luxury of all of it being at one school. He should have perfected his craft by now. Dawn by comparison is in her 19th season as a head coach. The first 9 years at Temple.

Give Dawn another 14 years to perfect her craft and then a fair comparison can be made. IMHO Geno is the best WBB coach of all time, although a good case can be made for Pat Summitt who coached for 38 years. Give Dawn the time these two greats have had and then see where she stands. Dawn can and will learn a lot more about coaching in the next 14 years hopefully spent at South Carolina.

I forgot to mention that Geno spent 4 years as an assistant coach at Virginia before becoming the head coach at Uconn. Dawn's entire collegiate coaching career has been as a head coach.
How old is Geno? How old is Dawn? She might not have sufficient time, or might not choose to coach long enough to challenge any of Geno's lifetime achievements.
 
Geno is now in his 33rd season as a head coach. He has had the luxury of all of it being at one school. He should have perfected his craft by now. Dawn by comparison is in her 19th season as a head coach. The first 9 years at Temple.

Give Dawn another 14 years to perfect her craft and then a fair comparison can be made. IMHO Geno is the best WBB coach of all time, although a good case can be made for Pat Summitt who coached for 38 years. Give Dawn the time these two greats have had and then see where she stands. Dawn can and will learn a lot more about coaching in the next 14 years hopefully spent at South Carolina.

I forgot to mention that Geno spent 4 years as an assistant coach at Virginia before becoming the head coach at Uconn. Dawn's entire collegiate coaching career has been as a head coach.

She's coached long enough (and before that, played exceptionally well enough) to be a whole lot better in teaching the fundamentals of basketball than she does, so I'm not sure that's going to get too much better. After 19 years, game strategy, game management, overall team discipline, offensive and defensive philosophy won't change much. Please don't misunderstand my point .... I hope Dawn, at USC, turns out to be the winningest coach of all time in NCAA women's basketball, but my eyes don't deceive me when I watch her team play. However, she is a fantastic recruiter, and that's probably the most important program-building talent to have in the women's game at present.
 
How old is Geno? How old is Dawn? She might not have sufficient time, or might not choose to coach long enough to challenge any of Geno's lifetime achievements.

Google is your friend but just for you King here are the answers. Geno will be 64 in March this year and Dawn will be 48 in May this year so basically Geno is 16 years older. The answer to the rest of your questions only Dawn knows and she probably doesn't know right now. Too many variables. However with the information known now IMHO Dawn's records and accomplishments compare favorably with Geno's at the same point in their careers.
 
Google is your friend but just for you King here are the answers. Geno will be 64 in March this year and Dawn will be 48 in May this year so basically Geno is 16 years older. The answer to the rest of your questions only Dawn knows and she probably doesn't know right now. Too many variables. However with the information known now IMHO Dawn's records and accomplishments compare favorably with Geno's at the same point in their careers.
So, he won his first title in 1995 - when he was about 42. That alone suggests the implausibility of Dawn matching either his total titles or his win totals. That isn't a slam; only a reasonable projection.
 
So, he won his first title in 1995 - when he was about 42. That alone suggests the implausibility of Dawn matching either his total titles or his win totals. That isn't a slam; only a reasonable projection.

I'm not trying to suggest that Dawn will accomplish in her career what Geno has in his. As a matter of fact IMHO his accomplishments will likely never be matched. I'm only saying that Dawn is on a good trajectory compared to Geno. Most WBB fan bases would be thrilled if their coach accomplished half of what Geno has accomplished. Dawn is one of the few coaches that has this potential.
 
I'm not trying to suggest that Dawn will accomplish in her career what Geno has in his. As a matter of fact IMHO his accomplishments will likely never be matched. I'm only saying that Dawn is on a good trajectory compared to Geno. Most WBB fan bases would be thrilled if their coach accomplished half of what Geno has accomplished. Dawn is one of the few coaches that has this potential.
I hope that pans out because she has been great for this state, Columbia, the university, and the fans. She is a quality person - a credit to everything she is associated with. My concern is that the women's game is gaining a more traction nationally in recent times and we have to keep up. We especially have to keep up in talent acquisition. Right now, I feel like we've dropped a step. This next cycle is crucial - crucial.
 
You are wrong. Fact of the matter is that football and men’s basketball are truly the only things that really matter. Folks will jump on a winner as long as it has USC sewn on the uniform. Baseball is much the same way. Not that it doesn’t matter I don’t guess, but when the big time winning stops, folks just don’t care. Football and men’s basketball dominate the water cooler talk win or lose. Matter of fact, around my office, I’m not sure I have heard much water cooler talk about WBB even when they are winning big. It is what it is.

You, obviously, are not "getting" it. YES, it does matter, and sorry, you are wrong. I'm a life long Gamecock fan with family history attending the university. I, along with many, many, many others, pull for ALL Gamecock sports, and talk about most all Gamecock sports.
 
I love everything USC represents, Dawn Staley is second to Tanner based on the rings theory but Dawn is our most awesome human coaching at the moment, Frank made a nice splash and Will is on the verge of his big splash. I’m not discounting last year, or January 1st ;) ....

So: Go Cocks (girls & guys)
Equestrian
Soccer
Volleyball (beach & hardwood)
Softball
Swimming & diving
Track
& field
Curling
Checkers
Golf
Chess
Etc....(apologies to those missed)

It all matters
 
I don't think you can really compare the two yet. Pat Summitt was the pioneer and TN was one of the few programs many years ago that actually showed the slightest interest in winning at a women's sport and they dominated. With all due respect to that, Geno has passed Summitt. What Geno has done at UCONN is amazing because of where the school is (in the middle of nowhere in CT) and that it plays in a nothing conference. Since 2000, there is no better program than UCONN. Anyone who can convince folks from all around the country to go to that little town that's freezing in winter time is doing something special. Of course now, it's probably an easier sell to come to UCONN because you are pretty much assured you will get to multiple Final Fours in your career. There's no other program that can make that guarantee.
What Dawn has done is indeed amazing. The two things that concern me in terms of staying "elite":
1) Can she continue to recruit something other than point guards on a national level? The in-state talent on which the success of this program was clearly built (Welch, Coates, Sessions, Dozier, Wilson, and even Mitchell from nearby Charlotte), has dried up. You can't count on transfers every year because you never know who will leave each year, and we certainly were fortunate with Gray and Davis. Since Wilson's recruiting class (Cuevas, White, Cliney etc), we've had many players transfer out and a few players that were "misses" (high ranked recruits that didn't pan out). Still too early for a grade on this year's 3 freshmen, but Jackson seems good, the other 2 need work. We lost the recruiting war with a "big" last year that went to Ohio State. We lost two "bigs" that committed to UCONN for next year. So even coming off a national championship, the staff still has some work to do to put itself in Geno's class for recruiting IMO.
2) How long will Staley stay in coaching? I hop she stays at USC until she is old and gray. By all accounts, she is a constant competitor and I love that. But, my wife pointed this out to me - fast forward after the next summer Olympics and she wins (presuming) Gold as Team USA's Head Coach - does she keep going, or is that the last mountain for her to climb? Hopefully not.
Seeing USC play Tennessee without Aja Wilson was eye-opening in that it took a career high scoring night from our point guard to keep us competitive. Without Aja, USC is a middle of the pack team this year. Hopefully we can get some more star power!

Love this team and what coach has done. I'll admit, I'm spoiled by the success and just want more! I definitely think Dawn can keep it going though even if we are "down" for a year or so. Either way, I would not want to be the coach that comes after Geno at UCONN or Dawn at USC!
 
She is off to a very good start,but to honest,revisit this thread in another 20 years to get a more accurate comparison between the 2. So far she is doing great!
 
Geno's teams are far more disciplined and fundamental than any other women's team. Add that with the nations top players and Bang, you have a complete Dynasty.
 
You are wrong. Fact of the matter is that football and men’s basketball are truly the only things that really matter. Folks will jump on a winner as long as it has USC sewn on the uniform. Baseball is much the same way. Not that it doesn’t matter I don’t guess, but when the big time winning stops, folks just don’t care. Football and men’s basketball dominate the water cooler talk win or lose. Matter of fact, around my office, I’m not sure I have heard much water cooler talk about WBB even when they are winning big. It is what it is.
two way to look at this.
1. you are a gamecock, so all gamecock sports matter
2. In the reality of it all, It's only sports, no matter which one you choose, and in the overall scheme of things.........none of them matter
 
  • Like
Reactions: coolcock2001
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest posts

ADVERTISEMENT