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Dawn Staley Cites 'Paramount' Factor for South Carolina NCAA Tournament Success

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley seems confident about the NCAA Tournament for this reason.

Grant Young

Oct 16, 2024; Birmingham, AL, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley talks with the media during SEC Media Days at Grand Bohemian Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images
Oct 16, 2024; Birmingham, AL, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley talks with the media during SEC Media Days at Grand Bohemian Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images / Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images

Dawn Staley's South Carolina Gamecocks team is entering the 2025 NCAA Tournament without any All-America first, second, or third-team honorees.

However, the Gamecocks have something that might be even more valuable than that once the NCAA Tournament begins: experience.

Of course, South Carolina was the 2024 NCAA National Champions, made it to the 2023 Final Four, and also won a National Championship in 2022. And Staley has players on her roster (Bree Hall and Sania Feagin) who have been part of all three of these past teams; not to mention the many current players who were on last year's championship-winning roster.

And when Staley spoke to the media on March 30, she touted how this experience is going to set her squad apart once March Madness begins.

"I mean it's paramount that you have experience playing, doing deep into this tournament. It is paramount," Staley said, per an X post from Matt Dowell. "Yes, you can get lucky. But at some point, the experience kicks in.

"When you're in a tight situation it kicks in and in preparation, it kicks in. Because I think when we first started going to the tournament... I was actually tired. I was tired because we weren't used to playing during that time in March," she added.

"Now we've built the stamina to do it and it has paid off."

South Carolina's first NCAA Tournament game arrives on March 21 at 4 PM ET, when they face off against the No. 16 seed Tennessee Tech.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

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