South Carolina coach Dawn Staley says transgender athletes “should be able to play,” admitting a controversial stance “would be a distraction” for her team ahead of the March Madness finale.

Legendary South Carolina coach Dawn Staley controversially asserted that transgender athletes should be allowed to compete in women’s sports.

Speaking a day after her women’s basketball team beat NC State in the Final Four of March Madness, advancing to the national championship game against Iowa, Staley said anyone who considers themselves a woman should be free to play.

“I’m of the opinion that 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.”

The 53-year-old, who spent 16 years as South Carolina’s president, was fully aware that she would attract criticism and controversy by expressing her position.

In 2022, Lia Thomas became the only transgender athlete to win an NCAA national title

Staley and the Gamecocks will face the Iowa Hawkeyes in the national championship game

“So now the Barnstormer people are going to flood my calendar and distract me on one of the biggest days in our game,” she said. “And I’m OK with that. I am really.’

Hours later, Iowa coach Lisa Bluder declined to comment on the matter, insisting she was focused on Sunday’s final.

“I understand that it is a subject that interests people. But today I focus on tomorrow’s match and on my players,” she said.

“It’s an important game we have tomorrow, and that’s what I want to be here to talk about. But I know that’s an important question for another time.

The rights and restrictions of transgender athletes have become a contentious issue in recent years, spilling over into politics and even the legal system.

In January 2022, the NCAA changed its policy to allow each sport’s rules to be determined by a national governing body, an international federation – or the 2015 Olympic standard.

This change happened around the same time that transgender athlete Lia Thomas began competing in women’s swimming, even winning a national championship while at the University of Pennsylvania.

In basketball, the NCAA currently defers to the 2015 Olympic guidelines regarding an allowable testosterone threshold (less than 10 nanomoles per liter). Currently, no known transgender women participate in Division I basketball.