South Carolina women's basketball has been dominant for so many years now and because of that dominance, the Gamecocks have been invited to play in a new tournament in the beginning of the 2025 season.
The Gamecocks are set to play in the newest Players Era Women's Championship, an event that is growing from the men's version of the tournament. South Carolina will join the Duke Blue Devils, Texas Longhorns, and UCLA Bruins in what is set to be quite the set of matchups.
We're going back to Vegas!
— South Carolina Women's Basketball (@GamecockWBB) December 16, 2024
Great games, great spot for the FAMS, and NIL opportunities for our players – @Players_Era nailed it!https://t.co/R8Wo2X4R6K pic.twitter.com/1IclpSJ3LM
The Players Era Women's Championship is set to take place during Thanksgiving Week in 2025 and each team participating will earn more than just the pleasure of being the first to participate in this momentous tournament.
Each of the four teams in this tournament will also be awarded $1 million in NIL funds for participating. This tournament is set to be a round-robin, with each of the four teams meaning each will have one game against the other, and the Champion will be crowned based on their head-to-head record against each other and no ties will be possible with tie-breakers in place.
The tournament will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada, a place one former Gamecocks is very familiar with. The legendary A'ja Wilson spends the majority of her time in Vegas playing for the Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA.
Head coach Dawn Staley is proud that her team was selected to be one of the first to play in such a tournament. South Carolina is excited to be a part of quite a quartet of teams playing in the tournament.
"This innovative event brings together everything we’re looking for – quality games early in the season, a great location for fans to come and enjoy, and NIL opportunities for our players," Staley said in her postgame press conference after beating USF on Sunday.
South Carolina must get through their 2024-2025 season before they can begin thinking about the next one as the Gamecocks prepare to finish out their non-conference schedule before starting a grueling SEC schedule.