![South Carolina Coach Dawn Staley on Caitlin Clark: She is a superstar](https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/107401835-1713278498279-1713278091-34146545766-hd.jpg?v=1713278502&w=750&h=422&vtcrop=y)
Dawn Staley just finished leading South Carolina’s undefeated season and witnessing the top of Caitlin Clark’s record-breaking college profession — and she or he thinks women’s basketball is just getting began.
“I believe we’re in a moment … from a spot where our game has been held back to now it’s at a spot where it’s bursting through the seams … I believe it is going to improve and higher,” she told CNBC on Tuesday.
The Hall of Fame coach and former player led the Gamecocks to their third national championship and the primary perfect season of their history as they defeated Clark and Iowa earlier this month. The matchup, broadcast on ESPN, was the most-watched basketball game at any level since 2019, in line with Nielsen.
On Tuesday, Staley and the Gamecocks paid one other visit to a national stage — this time, the Recent York Stock Exchange to ring the opening bell to have a good time their national championship win. The looks is just one other example of how women’s sports reached recent heights this 12 months as basketball drew record-breaking audiences, in no small part as a consequence of Clark’s pursuit of the faculty basketball scoring record and South Carolina’s bid for an undefeated season.
The Recent York Stock Exchange welcomes University of South Carolina Women’s Basketball on April 16, 2024, in recognition of its 2024 NCAA National Championship. To honor the occasion, Dawn Staley, Head Coach, and Kamilla Cardoso, 2024 MOP, Women’s Final 4, joined by Sharon Bowen, Chair, NYSE, ring The Opening Bell®.
NYSE
Clark was chosen first within the Women’s National Basketball Association draft Monday night, and her arrival to the Indiana Fever has already raised ticket prices across the U.S.
Staley pointed to the Gamecocks for example of why schools should put money into women’s sports.
“I hope every school or university treats women’s sports like South Carolina,” she said. “They put money into my salary, they put money into student athletes … and we’re here.”
Staley, who’s the second-highest-paid coach in women’s college basketball, has a salary of $3.1 million per season, and earned a reported $680,000 more in bonuses following South Carolina’s championship.
“I believe now could be the time [schools] are seeing there’s a return in your investment once you pour into our game,” she said.
Staley also reflected on Clark’s effect on women’s basketball, not only through drawing recent audiences to the game, but in addition by appearing on platforms resembling “Saturday Night Live.”
“Caitlin Clark is a superstar. I credit her for raising the extent and we’d like to thank her for that,” Staley said.