Dawn Staley Headlines 2025 Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year Finalists

South Carolina's Dawn Staley is one of four finalists for Naismith Coach of the Year in women's basketball.

TCU's Mark Campbell, UCLA's Cori Close and USC's Lindsay Gottlieb will try to derail Staley's four-peat.

Doing so won't be easy when the Gamecocks went 30-3 in the regular season and were crowned SEC champions. They've hardly missed a beat despite losing Kamilla Cardoso, the Most Outstanding Player in the 2024 NCAA tournament, to the WNBA.

Forwards Joyce Edwards and Chloe Kitts and guard MiLaysia Fulwiley are all averaging double figures in scoring.

Edwards is putting up 13.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 0.5 blocks despite primarily coming off the bench. With the true freshman, Staley may have another elite frontcourt standout to follow in the footsteps of Cardoso, A'ja Wilson and Aliyah Boston.

South Carolina sits No. 2 in the AP Top 25 and Coaches Poll, though, and that's notable when Close's UCLA squad is atop both.

The Bruins had little trouble adapting to life in the Big Ten. Although they had the second-best record in the conference (16-2), they avenged their pair of defeats to USC by beating the Trojans in the Big Ten title game.

Close has helped to oversee arguably the most balanced team in the country. UCLA is sixth in field-goal percentage (48.3) and fifth in opponent field-goal percentage (34.9).

Junior center Lauren Betts has put herself into the No. 1 pick conversation for the 2026 WNBA draft. She's averaging 19.7 points, 9.7 rebounds and a Big Ten-high 2.9 blocks.

Across town, USC has taken another step forward in its quest for a first national championship since 1984.

Gottlieb didn't sit back in the offseason and coast knowing standout freshman JuJu Watkins was returning. She signed forward Kiki Iriafen and guard Talia von Oelhoffen out of the transfer portal, and Iriafen has particularly made a big difference for the Trojans. The former Stanford star is averaging 18.0 points and 8.4 boards, and her presence has helped to ease the offensive burden on Watkins.

When it comes to Gottlieb's Naismith candidacy, USC's two wins over UCLA and a regular-season Big Ten title could prove decisive.

Should he come out on top, Campbell would be rewarded for executing one of the biggest turnarounds in Division I.

Campbell arrived after TCU notched 14 combined victories between the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons The Horned Frogs went 21-12 in his first year before winning the most games in program history (33).

Seniors Hailey Van Lith, Sedona Prince and Madison Conner all joined TCU through the transfer portal, and they've all become key players for Campbell. Van Lith in particular was a massive addition, having rebounded in a big way following an underwhelming 2023-24 campaign at LSU.

Of the four finalists, Campbell has the lowest-ranked team, yet a case could be made he has performed the best coaching job relative to preseason expectations.