Morning Distribution for Friday, April 2, 2021

A [FiveThirtyEight]( email [Morning Distribution]( Friday, April 2, 2021 Your daily briefing from FiveThirtyEight --------------------------------------------------------------- The Morning Story [MM-2021-WOMENSFINAL4-4×3]( [What To Watch In A Star-Studded Final Four]( By [Howard Megdal]( The level of star power in this year’s NCAA women’s Final Four is astonishing to behold. Not just the amount of talent involved, but the diversity of it, promises a wild weekend ahead, with Stanford facing South Carolina, Connecticut taking on Arizona and the winners facing off on Sunday for the national title. The coaches alone are among the most dazzling: Tara VanDerveer, Dawn Staley, Geno Auriemma and Adia Barnes. There are two coaches in women’s basketball history with [more career victories]( than Pat Summitt, and they are both here. In VanDerveer and Auriemma, there are two Olympic [gold medal coaches]( in the Final Four, with Staley — the [current national team coach]( — expected to join them this summer. (VanDerveer, incidentally, [coached Staley]( in her gold medal turn in 1996.) And Barnes, in her first Final Four, is as heralded as any young coach in the game, taking her alma mater, [somewhat unexpectedly]( to the precipice of the summit as well. The ascension of Barnes next to Staley, meaning this year’s national semifinals will feature two Black head coaches [for the first time]( was cheered by the South Carolina head coach. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Weekly Listen [Play]( [Politics Podcast: Elections To Watch In 2021]( [FiveThirtyEight] [View in browser]( [ABC News]( [Unsubscribe]( Our mailing address: FiveThirtyEight, 47 West 66th Street, New York, NY 10023.