This offseason has been an interesting one for South Carolina basketball coach Dawn Staley as she has worked to finish a schedule for her team.
This spring, Staley bluntly said that she thinks some other teams are afraid to play the Gamecocks in the out-of-conference schedule. It has been confirmed that at least one team (and, seemingly even more than that) backed out of 2024-2025 game against South Carolina.
Friday night, the scheduling saga for the Gamecocks continued. Coach Staley took to social media to explain that her team needed another game on their schedule and that she was having trouble finding a foe willing to take the court with the defending champs.
Really sorry I have to resort to this but-we need a game. I’ve had some nice, funny and outlandish convos regarding scheduling a game H/H with a guarantee and guaranteed a great student-athlete experience🥰-any interest please let me know. Need to finish this schedule🙏🏾
— dawnstaley (@dawnstaley) August 9, 2024
Naturally, her post garnered a large reaction (most of which were of the joking variety), but South Carolina basketball fans are hopeful that it will also challenge a competitive coach out there to take the challenge of playing against the best team in the sport.
While Coach Staley is searching for a non-conference game, she also is trying to make a point. She has never been afraid to "schedule tough," and the Gamecocks annually play one of the hardest slates in women's college basketball. She clearly doesn't have much respect for teams that she feels are backing out of their games or who run from competition.
As things stand (unless Coach Staley's post indicates another team backing out of a game), Carolina has non-con games scheduled against the Michigan Wolverines (neutral site in Las Vegas), NC State Wolfpack (neutral site in Charlotte), Iowa State Cyclones (neutral site as part of the Fort Myers Tip-Off), Purdue Boilermakers (neutral site as part of the Fort Myers Tip-Off), UCLA Bruins (on the road), TCU Horned Frogs (on the road), UConn Huskies (at home), Wofford Terriers (at home), Charleston Southern Buccaneers (at home), East Carolina Pirates (at home), South Florida Bulls (at home), Duke Blue Devils (at home as part of the ACC/SEC Challenge), and the Clemson Tigers (at home).