Beyonce gifts Dawn Staley flowers after undefeated national championship season
Beyonce is a fan of South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley.
Staley revealed on social media that the multi-time Grammy Award-winning artist sent a bouquet of flowers to her and the team along with a note, which Staley read.
“To Coach Staley and the entire South Carolina Gamecocks,” Staley said the note read, “me and my family watched your games and cheered you on through the entire season. I’m so proud of you. All my love.”
What the original Instagram video here.
Staley gave her thanks to Beyonce for the kind gesture.
“B, thank you. We appreciate you, we’re honored to wear your gear. It says ‘Always Been Country,’ well, I’ve been in the south for 16 years. I’m a little country, too. Just because of you, B. Keep inspiring, we love you.”
Nearly 19 million people tuned in to watch South Carolina defeat Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes in the national championship game 87-75 to cap a 38-0 season, securing the third national title under Staley in Columbia. Her teams have now made the Final Four in each of the last four seasons.
No one predicted South Carolina to have the season that they did, however. After Staley lost seven players to graduation at the end of the 2022-23 season, the Gamecocks had to assemble a completely new team mixed with returning players, and key contributors from the transfer portal and high school recruiting cycle.
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The group that Staley brought in consisted of three recent high school All-Americans — hoping this group will develop in the same way the stellar 2019 group did — but was led by transfer Te-Hina Paopao. She has started every game for the Gamecocks this season leading up to the Final Four and averages 11.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game for South Carolina in her first season transferring in from Oregon.
Returning players like Kamilla Cardoso — the Gamecocks’ leading scorer and rebounder this season after making a big jump this offseason — Chloe Kitts, Raven Johnson and Ashlyn Watkins have been in Columbia for at least two seasons now. They’ve all been to at least one Final Four (in Cardoso’s case, three) before with South Carolina and know what the standard is supposed to look like for Staley’s squad.
Now, all of these women can claim the title of national champions. Their hard work has not gone unnoticed, and it seems that they’ve even made a fan out of an A-lister like Beyonce.