Dawn Staley resorts to social media to complete non-conference schedule: 'We need a game'

The defending national champions have an open slot on their schedule and Dawn Staley is using an unconventional method to fill it. On Friday, the South Carolina head coach posted a request for teams interested in playing the Gamecocks to reach out to her.

“Really sorry I have to resort to this but-we need a game,” Staley wrote. “I’ve had some nice, funny and outlandish convos regarding scheduling a game [home and home] with a guarantee and guaranteed a great student-athlete experience🥰-any interest please let me know. Need to finish this schedule🙏🏾.”

It’s easy to understand why teams are avoiding South Carolina. The Gamecocks posted a perfect 38-0 record last season and won their second national championship in just the past three seasons.

Staley now boasts three national titles at South Carolina (2017, 2022 and 2024), eight regular season SEC championships and eight conference tournament trophies. She is a four-time Naismith Coach of the Year, including the past three years.

Despite her success on the court, Staley stays busy during the offseason. The 54-year-old head coach made headlines with her jaw-dropping speech at the ESPY Awards, only to turn heads at the 2024 Paris Olympics a few weeks later.

Dawn Staley raves about surge in WBB attention

As thrilling as Staley’s off-court adventures are, she never loses focus on her program. Staley is thrilled for the Gamecocks’ upcoming season. With the surge in women’s basketball’s popularity, more eyes than ever will be on South Carolina.

Staley is looking forward to embracing the opportunity and couldn’t be happier about the state of the sport she loves so dearly.

“Women’s basketball is in a great place where not just that we’re in high demand, the people want to see, the people want to follow the stars of our game. They want to know what they’re doing. They want them to be on every time they play a game,” Staley said. “So it ain’t on us. The talent’s there. The recognition is there. The demand is there. It’s time for the decision makers to decide women’s basketball is going to be on national television.

“Now there’s some stars, now. I’ve got one of them. I coach one – Malaysia Fulwiley. You’ve got JuJu [Watkins]. JuJu’s balling. You’ve got Hannah Hidalgo at Notre Dame,” Staley said. “You have a lot of household names. Young names that our game can sustain itself if you pour in the type of resources that you poured in over the past two years.”

If women’s basketball fans are lucky, Staley will find another star-studded cast to face off against her Gamecocks in the 2024-25 season.