South Carolina football fans have been clamoring to find out the identity of the College GameDay celebrity guest picker since ESPN announced the Gamecocks would host the Saturday morning pregame show leading up to this weekend's big game against the LSU Tigers. Would it be a former player or coach? WWE star Trick Williams did his part to make fans think it would be him. Would ESPN fly in someone with no connection to the school like they did in 2014 with Kenny Chesney? As it turned out, the guest picker is someone who wouldn't have to travel to be in attendance on Saturday. The announcement came down on Thursday afternoon that South Carolina basketball coach Dawn Staley was the pick.
Staley, a 3-time National Championship-winning coach with the Gamecocks, will be on set with the GameDay crew to hype up the Gamecock fanbase and, without a doubt, to give some insight into her team as they get ready to start their "Repeat Tour" this November. Her appearance on GameDay will cap off a busy week of traveling as the South Carolina Gamecocks were guests at the White House just a few days ago in celebration of their 2023-2024 undefeated championship season.
College GameDay will anchor down at Gamecock Park and will begin at 9:00 AM ET. The show will be broadcast on ESPN and ESPNU and will be streamed on the ESPN app. Kickoff between the Gamecocks and Tigers is slated for 12:12 PM ET, and the game will be available on ABC, ESPN+, and the ESPN app.
This will be GameDay's first trip to Columbia (for football) since the 2014 season. The Gamecocks were part of GameDay's opening Saturday festivities last season, but the game against the North Carolina Tar Heels was at a neutral site in Charlotte. In home GameDay chances, South Carolina football is 3-3, including the convincing win over #1 Alabama in 2010 and the beatdown over #5 Georgia in 2012.