South Carolina women's basketball: Gamecocks will return to Players Era Championship

The inaugural Players Era Women’s Championship was a success, and South Carolina will return to play the event for the next two seasons.

The two-day, four-team event at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas brought together four preseason top-ten teams, although Duke dropped out of the rankings by the time of the event. Organizers still got high-profile games between no. 3 UCLA and no. 4 Texas on Wednesday and no. 1 South Carolina and no. 4 Texas on Thursday.

Texas beat South Carolina 66-64 on a game-winner with 0.7 seconds left in the championship game. UCLA routed Duke in the consolation game.

“We’ll be back for two more years,” Dawn Staley said. “(It’s a) positive, you get great competition. You’re able to get some quality wins. Even in this loss, it’s a quality loss. So it doesn’t really hurt us.”

NEW! Message board for South Carolina Women’s Basketball! 🏀

Texas coach Vic Schaefer later said Texas has signed on for four years.

When originally announced, the Players Era Women’s Championship was intended to be a three-game round robin. It was later shortened to a two-game tournament format. Expansion is reportedly being looked at for next season.

The Players Era Men’s Championship began in 2024 with eight teams and expanded to 18 this season. It will expand again next season, to 32 teams. The winning team, Michigan, won $1 million in NIL money. Runner-up Gonzaga won $500,000 in NIL money.

🏀 GamecocksW newsletter: WBB coverage delivered straight to your inbox!

There are other NIL opportunities for men’s and women’s teams throughout the week. The combination of elite competition and significant NIL opportunities has quickly made the Players Era Championship a major event.

The NIL earnings for the women’s tournament have not been revealed.

NEW! Message board for South Carolina Women’s Basketball!