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Former WNBA star Candace Parker had no empathy for UConn Huskies women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma after her outburst at Dawn Staley in South Carolina on Friday night.
Auriemma was upset that Staley failed to meet him for a customary pregame handshake before the start of their Final Four match. His frustrations with Staley led him to confront her at half court at the end of the game. Staley yelled at Auriemma as coaches and other staff members got between the two.
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Candace Parker, a member of the Amazon Prime NBA broadcast team, stands on the court at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California during the game between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Los Angeles Lakers on January 22, 2026. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Imagn Images)
Parker, who was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame this week, spoke about the incident Saturday night.
“Over time, you see people’s colors over and over again,” she said. “And there may be a separation of time with that, but the colors still appear. I think the colors were shown yesterday on both sides, right? Whichever way you want to take that.”
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South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley and UConn head coach Geno Auriemma argue after a semifinal game in the NCAA women’s college basketball tournament at the Final Four in Phoenix on April 3, 2026. (Rick Scuteri/AP)
Auriemma apologized for his outburst.
“There is no excuse for the way I handled the end of the South Carolina game. It’s unlike what I do and our level here at Connecticut,” the Hall of Fame coach said in a statement Saturday. “I want to apologize to the South Carolina staff and team. My reaction was inappropriate. The story should be how well South Carolina played, and I don’t want my actions to take away from that. I have had a great relationship with their staff and I sincerely want to apologize to them.”
Staley evaded a question about the interaction, saying she was focused on South Carolina’s national championship game against the UCLA Bruins.
NBA on Prime analyst Candace Parker stands on the court during the game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California on October 24, 2025. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
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“For me, no distractions right now. I’m focused on winning a national championship, that’s all,” Staley said. “It’s a little discouraging. It’s sport, sometimes things like this happen. Keep focusing on my team and my ability to progress in this tournament and hopefully win another national championship.”
