South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley called allegations made by Missouri athletic director Jim Sterk “serious and false” at a news conference Wednesday.
Sterk said in a radio interview Tuesday that Missouri players were spit on and subject to racial slurs in the Gamecocks’ 64-54 victory Sunday, which featured two ejections and a bench-clearing skirmish.
“Did I lose a little sleep last night? Yes, obviously,” Staley told reporters. “(The allegations are) going to be handled, but not right here, and not in the manner in which they were dealt. That’s all I’m going to say about that.”
Sterk, in his comments to KTGR radio in Columbia, Mo., said Missouri’s players were “spit on and called the N-word” while describing the atmosphere at South Carolina’s Colonial Life Arena as “unhealthy.”
“I mean, it was not a good environment and unfortunately I think Coach Staley promoted that kind of atmosphere,” Sterk said in the interview. “It’s unfortunate that she felt she had to do that.”
In a more direct response to Sterk’s comments, Staley vehemently stood behind the Gamecocks’ fanbase.
“If I could uproot my fans and place them in any other arena, that coach would be tremendously proud,” Staley said. “I stand by our fans, by the way they cheer, by every single thing they bring to the arena.”
Staley did her best at the news conference to emphasize her focus on the reigning national champion’s matchup against No. 1 Connecticut on Thursday, adding of the accusations that, “any time you have to deal with distractions, you deal with them.”
Later Wednesday evening, school president Harris Pastides tweeted: “Coach Staley, we support you 100%. You are a unifier not a divider. We “got your back.” “
On Tuesday, South Carolina athletics director Ray Tanner said his department had beefed up security for Sunday’s game and after an investigation had found no evidence of impropriety.
On Wednesday, in a radio interview on 107.5 The Game, Tanner said he spoke to SEC commissioner Greg Sankey about the matter and reemphasized his support of the program’s fan base, calling it a “great environment for young women.”
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“We would disagree with some of the comments about our environment,” Tanner said. “Some of the comments directed at coach Staley are beyond understanding for me. It goes without saying what she’s done outside of basketball, it speaks for itself.
“Only Jim Sterk can explain his reasoning.”
