South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley was not having star student A'ja Wilson's remarks about calling her soft, as she fought back with a hilarious comment of her own.

In a recent interview by NBC's Natalie Esquire, Staley was asked about her thoughts on Wilson calling her "soft" over the years. But the USC coach laughed it off and said the four-time MVP has also gotten soft for a different reason.

“Have I gotten softer? I’ve gotten smarter, right,” Staley said. "Because you can’t allow them to beat you at their game, I’m beating them at their game."

"A’ja [Wilson’s] probably gotten softer too…now that she got a man, right? She got a little softer. But I will say this – I really enjoy young people. I enjoy taking the journey with them for them finding themselves. And it’s such a cool process and a cool dynamic helping them find out who they really are.”

Staley's comments come after Wilson joined Kylie Kelcie’s “Not Gonna Lie” podcast last November and revealed that times have changed at South Carolina between now and when she was getting coached under Staley.

“She’s gotten soft. It’s ridiculous how soft she’s gotten because one when we were in school we couldn’t have phones on game days. We had to literally spend a whole day without our phones and go to classes,” Wilson said.

Wilson also believes part of why Staley has gone soft is because of the new "kids" who make her do TikTok dances, which has revealed a softer side in her than the strict, all-business persona the HC carried during Wilson's time at South Carolina.

While both Wilson and Staley will probably keep throwing jabs at each other, it is all in love and admiration for one another. Regardless, both are absolute icons of women's basketball, and their latest honor adds to that feeling.

A'ja Wilson and Dawn Staley Named in TIME 100 Most Influential People in Sports List

A'ja Wilson has been breaking WNBA records almost every other week in the WNBA, that too at 29. The four-time MVP and three-time WNBA champion adds another honor to her long resume with this inaugural list put out by TIME Magazine.

Apart from being the highest-paid women's basketball coach, a four-time Olympic winner, and a Hall of Famer, last year’s playoffs featured 8 of Dawn Staley's college alumni. That is what is called influential.

Staley continues to give most of her time to player development and has changed the trajectory of quite a few players for the better, including Wilson.

Apart from Wilson and Staley, Caitlin Clark, Nneka Ogwumike, and the Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon were also named in the list.

So, is there any other player or coach in women's basketball you think got left off the list? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Joy Bassy

Edited by

Joy Bassy