Dawn Staley’s Bold Claim About South Carolina Senior Class Raises Eyebrows

South Carolina Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley had the highest praise for her senior class this season.

Oct 16, 2024; Birmingham, AL, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley talks with the media during SEC Media Days at Grand Bohemian Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images / Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images

The South Carolina Gamecocks’ final regular season game against Kentucky on March 2 is a meaningful one.

The main reason this contest is meaningful is because South Carolina has to win if they want a chance of being the No. 1 seed in the SEC Conference tournament. If both them and the No. 1 ranked Texas Longhorns win their March 2 games, a coin toss will be required to determine the tournament’s top seed.

Seeding implications aside, Sunday’s game is meaningful for the Gamecocks because it’s senior day. Four of South Carolina’s players (Te-Hina Paopao, Bree Hall, Sakima Walker, and Sania Feagin) are seniors and will be honored before the March 2 contest.

Dawn Staley spoke with the media on February 28. And at one point, she made an interesting claim about this season’s senior class.

“They’ve been probably the most successful class in the history of our program, and that’s saying a whole lot,” Staley said, per an X post from Matt Dowell. “It really is saying a whole lot. We’ve won two championships with this class, and they did what they said they were coming here to do… and hopefully [we’re] in the mix to win another one.”

This is an interesting take from Staley, if only because the talent of this year’s senior class is arguably lesser than some of her more recent classes; at least as it pertains to their stock for the 2025 WNBA Draft.

Then again, WNBA Draft stock doesn’t tell anything close to the full story of what these four seniors have accomplished during their incredible Gamecocks careers.