CLEVELAND – During Dawn Staley’s press conference Saturday before the NCAA Tournament championship game, the South Carolina women’s basketball coach was asked her opinion of transgender women competing in women’s sports.

Staley paused before answering, and she was deliberate with her words.

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley says transgender athletes 'should be able to play' - CBSSports.com

“Damn, you got deep on me, didn’t you? I’m on the opinion of, if you’re a woman, you should play,” Staley said. “If you consider yourself a woman and you want to play sports or vice versa, you should be able to play. That’s my opinion.”

Staley sensed her answer wasn’t enough for the reporter.

“You want me to go deeper?” she asked.

She was asked directly: Do you think transgender women should be able to participate?

“That’s the question you want to ask, I’ll give you that. Yes, yes,” Staley said. “So now the barnstormer people are going to flood my timeline and be a distraction to me on one of the biggest days of our game, and I’m OK with that. I really am.”

It’s not the first time a reporter representing OutKick has sprung a question on Staley that has nothing to do with the game at hand.

After South Carolina’s win at LSU in January, OutKick asked Staley if she still stood by her decision to cancel the Gamecocks series with BYU following the racial slur incident in 2022. Staley dismissed it, questioning the timing of it considering how much time had passed.

No. 1 seed South Carolina (37-0) faces No. 1 seed Iowa (34-4) in the national championship on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, ABC) at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

Dawn Staley comments on transgender women in sports draws praise from social media

Staley’s answer quickly made its way to X, formerly known as Twitter, and many praised her willingness to give her opinion in support of trans women in sports.