South Carolina women's basketball: Dawn Staley wowed by recruit’s gesture

Dawn Staley has seen a lot in more than two decades of coaching, but this week she experienced a first that left her shocked.

From Temple to South Carolina, from recruiting unknown players to five stars, and NIL and revenue sharing, Staley probably thought she had seen it all.

“Good am!” Staley wrote. “In my 25 years of coaching, this is a first. I just received a handwritten thank you note from a top prospect…thanking us for her visit and recruitment over the years and good luck on our season. Extraordinary human being!”

Staley finished with a praying hands emoji.

“(Praying) she’s a Gamecock for all of our sake!”

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Staley can’t identify the recruit without running afoul of the NCAA, but it doesn’t take much detective work to figure out who she was talking about. 

Staley’s post was retweeted by McKenna Woliczko and her father. Woliczko is the sixth-ranked recruit in the 2026 class by Rivals and ESPN.

She took her official visit to South Carolina at the end of June, and the Gamecocks went all-out to impress her. Staley hosted a block party at her house, they watched a WNBA game on the video board at Williams-Brice Stadium, and Shane Beamer broke down McKenna’s younger brother’s football film.

Good am! In my 25 years of coaching, this is a first. I just received a handwritten thank you note from a top prospect…thanking us for her visit and recruitment over the years and good luck on our season. Extraordinary human being! 🙏🏾 she’s a @GamecockWBB for all of our sake!

— dawnstaley (@dawnstaley) August 18, 2025

Woliczko will take her official visit to Iowa over Labor Day weekend. She also visited Ohio State. Southern Cal is the other program in her Final Four. Woliczko hopes to make her decision by mid-September.

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