South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley details the financial reason why bringing former coach Susan Walvius on staff makes sense

Recently, South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley made a staffing move. The three-time national title-winning coach added her predecessor to the Gamecocks’ coaching staff. Susan Walvius, who led USC’s program for 11 years prior to Staley taking over, has rejoined her old team.

On Wednesday, following South Carolina’s win over Duke at the Players Era Championship in Las Vegas, Staley detailed why Walvius is a fit for the Gamecocks once again.

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When GamecockCentral’s Chris Wellbaum asked Staley about Walvius, Staley said, “I think it’s a full circle moment for Susan.” She went on to praise Walvius’ former mentorship program and then expressed gratefulness for her predecessor’s willingness to help pass along that program.

Now that enough time has passed since Walvius left the Gamecocks (she last coached at USC ahead of the 2008-2009 season), Staley says it was a perfect time to bring her on board.

But it’s not just basketball that makes Walvius a good fit. It’s business. Following her exit from the coaching ranks, she and former assistant Michelle Marciniak launched SHEEX. The company manufactured and sold performance bedding and sleepwear, created similarly to high-quality athletic wear. Walvius and Marciniak grew SHEEX into a multi-million dollar company.

Now, back with the Gamecocks in the NIL era, Walvius will bring her business acumen to the table. “Susan’s a successful businesswoman who created a corporation from the ground up that’s still thriving in this space,” Staley explained. “In this climate, you have to be business-minded. You have to think a little bit outside the box and be innovative and create positions that will help in the NIL space.”

In addition to helping the University of South Carolina and its women’s basketball program from an NIL perspective, Staley believes Walvius could be good for the players, too. She said that Walvius was “the best person for the job” of helping provide “direction” and “financial literacy” for the current crop of Gamecocks.

Walvius will oversee all of Carolina’s NIL operations. She will help raise funds for the program. She will help educate the players who receive those funds. And she will serve as a business mentor.

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During her time leading the garnet and black, Walvius coached the Gamecocks to a 165-160 overall record. She took South Carolina to two NCAA Tournaments and three trips to the NIT. The team’s 25 wins in the 2001-2002 season were then an NCAA-era USC record.

Staley is the only coach to lead South Carolina to more single-season wins than Walvius since women’s basketball became an NCAA-sanctioned varsity sport. Now the two Gamecock bosses get to work together as USC pursues National Championship No. 4.

Following a 1-1 Players Era Championship trip that included a win over Duke and a last-second loss to Texas, South Carolina will not play again until Thursday. The Gamecocks will travel to Louisville to play a ranked Cardinals team as part of the ACC/SEC Challenge. That contest will begin at 7:00 p.m. ESPN will handle the broadcast, while the ESPN app makes the action available via streaming.

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