Dawn Staley lands $50,000 in bonuses after winning 2024 SEC Tournament Championship

The women’s 2024 SEC Tournament Championship game between LSU and South Carolina was without a doubt, one of the wildest and most chaotic in sports history. There was a fight between both teams, which led to multiple ejections. A man was escorted out of the building for coming onto the floor. Once the dust had finally settled, the South Carolina Gamecocks prevailed, and Dawn Staley won yet another SEC Tournament crown.

Staley’s team remains undefeated and they brought the Gamecocks their 8th SEC Tournament Championship. According to Steve Berkowitz, Staley won $50,000 in total bonuses for the big win. $25,000 for adding the SEC Tourney title to the regular season title and $25,000 for the NCAA Tournament bid.

She’s already cemented herself among the greats in her sport and the South Carolina women’s basketball dynasty continues to look like an unstoppable force. The Gamecocks are the No. 1 ranked team in the country, and they’ll head to the 2024 NCAA Tournament with an unblemished 32-0 overall record, with a 16-0 record in SEC play. They’ll also be the No. 1 overall seed.

Staley is now 103-3 in the past three seasons.

Following the Gamecocks 79-72 victory over the LSU Tigers on Sunday, Staley spoke with Brooke Weisbrod to issue an apology following the chaos. “I just want to apologize to the basketball community. When you’re playing in championship games like this, in our league? Things get heated,” said Staley. “No bad intentions. Their emotions got so far ahead of them that, sometimes, these things happen.

“I want to apologize for us playing a part in that because that’s not who we are and that’s not what we’re about,” Staley said. “I’m happy for the players that were able to finish the game and get us another championship.”

Staley has built South Carolina women’s basketball into one of the nation’s most dominant programs over the years, leading them to five Final Fours in the last eight NCAA Tournaments (2015, 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023). During her 15 seasons there, she’s already brought in two national championships (2017 and 2022) and will aim for her third in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

During her college basketball playing career, Staley was one of the greatest players in Virginia women’s basketball history during her time with the Cavaliers. She had her jersey retired. Once she wrapped up her career there, she scored more than 2,000 points, had more than 700 rebounds, more than 700 assists, and more than 400 steals, becoming the only women’s basketball player in ACC history to accomplish the feat.

In April of 2008, she was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.

On3’s Sam Gillenwater also contributed to this article.