Lamont Paris shouts out Dawn Staley's passion as a fan: 'She's a rockstar'
When Dawn Staley is patrolling the sidelines at South Carolina, she’s mostly business. That’s a big reason for her success as a head coach and this year’s undefeated record through 18 games.
But when she’s not coaching, she’s usually in the stands supporting the other teams at South Carolina. That includes her men’s basketball counterparts, and she was among the most vocal fans on Saturday as the Gamecocks took on Missouri in a 72-64 victory.
While Lamont Paris doesn’t necessarily notice Staley’s cheering during games, he sees it afterward. That type of passion is part of what makes her stand out, though, and Paris had some high praise for Staley after the game.
“I saw her after the last game after the Kentucky game, and she was on another level,” Paris told the SEC Now crew. “Dawn’s a rockstar, and I don’t even mean that in a basketball sense. We already know what she does there. They’re the greatest team in all of basketball right now, men’s or women’s. But she’s a rockstar as a human being and as a person. From the second I got here, it’s been nothing but love. Unbelievable person. I feel blessed to call her a friend.
“It’s nice for her to come into this venue and be able to cheer. As a coach, you don’t get too many opportunities to cheer. So I bet it’s fun for her to come in here and have something to genuinely root for. Dawn’s the GOAT. Dawn’s a rockstar.”
Dawn Staley continues to be South Carolina’s No. 1 fan
Staley’s passion as a fan was on full display during last year’s SEC softball tournament. She emphatically called on fans to support South Carolina, which was the No. 10 seed and made it to the championship game against No. 1 seed Tennessee.
During Saturday’s game, Staley was front and center, wearing a Gamecocks visor and waving her towel to try and get the fans fired up.
Staley has plenty of reasons to be fired up on the basketball court. Her women’s basketball team is coming off one of the biggest wins of the season, defeating LSU in Baton Rouge earlier this week. South Carolina trailed for most of the game, but rallied back in the fourth quarter to eventually pull off the victory and stay unbeaten.
The men’s basketball team has also been on a roll in the second year under Paris’ watch. South Carolina improved to 17-3 by beating Missouri and is now 5-2 in conference play as the calendar gets ready to flip to January.
It sure seems like nothing but good vibes around Gamecocks basketball.