Dawn Staley on South Carolina's fourth-straight Final Four appearance: 'It's all about the players'
South Carolina is headed to its fourth-straight Final Four under head coach Dawn Staley after defeating Oregon State 70-58 in the Elite 8 on Sunday.
The Gamecocks lost seven players to graduation after last season, most of whom were the driving forces behind the previous three South Carolina runs in the NCAA Tournament. Still, Staley put together a group of talented athletes that have never played together — and now they’re headed to Cleveland undefeated (36-0) on the season.
“It’s all about the players. It’s all about the players commitment,” Staley told ESPN sideline reporter Holly Rowe after the final buzzer. “You saw we had so many players come in and out of the basketball game, so players have to sit a little bit longer than they usually do. But they all want to win for each other. So they sacrifice some of their personal goals to benefit for the greater good of our team.
“Nobody believed we would be in this place right here, except for them.”
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.
Cardoso and Sania Feagin were on Staley’s roster for the 2022 national championship and will look to add another ring to their collection early next month and do so after going undefeated during the 2023-24 college basketball season.
The winner will play either Texas or NC State in Cleveland on Friday, April 5 as the Gamecocks look to secure its third national championship since 2017. All of which are under Staley’s guide.