Dawn Staley shouts out SEC during WNBA Draft

It’s easy to think of the SEC as a football conference, and football is important to the schools in the SEC. At the same time, there are plenty of other sports that the conference thrives in and cares about.

One of the biggest sports within the SEC has become women’s basketball and women’s basketball fans around the country were tuning into the WNBA Draft on Monday night. Amid the draft, South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley made sure to shout out the SEC.

“@SEC IT REALLY DOES MEAN MORE on @WNBA draft night,” Staley posted on social media.

The slogan “It just means more” in the SEC has become one of the best-known sayings for a conference in college sports. In it, there’s an effort to show how passionate the fanbases within the conference are, compared to those across the country.

In women’s college basketball, the SEC has been one of the great conferences, going back to legendary Tennessee coach Pat Summitt. In recent seasons, Dawn Staley has taken up the mantle as the top program in the conference, winning three national championships, including two of the last three. That other champion in the last three seasons came from another SEC power, LSU.

Given all that success in the conference, it shouldn’t be a surprise how many players from the SEC were selected in the WNBA Draft on Monday night. Six players from the conference were taken during the three-round, 36-pick draft. That included Kamilla Cardoso, who was selected third overall by the Chicago Sky and played for Dawn Staley at South Carolina.

That success in the WNBA Draft came a year after nine SEC players were selected in 2023. That group included five South Carolina players.

Dawn Staley and the SEC don’t look like they’re going away anytime soon, either, with South Carolina getting ready for the 2024-25 season, where they’ll likely be one of the favorites again.

Kamilla Cardoso praises Dawn Staley: ‘She’s the best in the business’

Following South Carolina’s recent national championship, Kamilla Cardoso made sure to praise Dawn Staley for being the best coach in the country.

“She means a lot to me. I feel like, since the first day I got to South Carolina, she’s been working so hard to get me ready and prepared for moments like this,” Cardoso said. “I’m just so thankful to have her as a coach. She’s like an inspiration for me and a lot of young girls out there. She’s the best in the business, you already know.”