After leading her team the national title last year, South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley has issued an ominous pre-season warning to the Gamecocks’ rivals as she chases more success.

South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley has issued an ominous warning to her team’s rivals as she asserted that the Gamecocks are “better” than they were during their last pre-season.

The 54-year-old led her players to a flawless 38–0 campaign en route to a third national title during 2024 as she earned the Coach of the Year honors once again. After that peerless procession to the title, the legendary figure is chasing more glory moving forward as her desire for success remains undiminished.

Speaking prior to an exhibition clash with the Memphis Tigers, Staley spoke in glowing terms about her team as she praised their application in practice. The Gamecocks helmswoman’s words proved prophetic too, as her all-conquering stars defeated the Tigers via a 43-point margin, winning the contest 106-63 at the FedExForum.

Going into detail about where are players are at in terms of their pre-season schedule, she admitted that she felt they were ahead of where they were at this point last year. In a message which will reverberate around the league, she said: “We’re better than we were last year at this time, I will say that.

“Just psychologically, having a better understanding of who we are and what’s our identity, we’re much better off,” she continued. “I mean, there’s some carryover from the success that we had last year. They knew what it took. It took a team full of players to get it done. We’re not scared of any team. We’re not scared of Iowa with or without Caitlin Clark.”

Waxing lyrical about the commitment shown by her team as they continue to be put through their paces, Staley added that their progress has been “great” so far. She asserted: “I couldn’t be more pleased with the way they come in here and work.”

Dawn Staley led South Carolina to another national championship last year and is eager for more success ( Image: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Before the game in Memphis, she said of her next opponents: “They’ve been loose for a long time. They’re in character. I think they’re ready to go, ready to play someone other than our highlighters…this team is pretty tight.

They really, really, really want the best for each other. They’re super unselfish, almost to a fault. [They also] really picked up where they left off. Hopefully, that magic carries us to another great season.”

Staley later reflected on a strong showing from her Gamecocks outfit in Memphis, adding: “They don’t give up. They’re a very, very physical basketball team. Very well coached. They know where they want their shots to come from. They’re gritty defensively.

For us, we probably just out-talented them. That’s not a bad thing. It’s something that, we were probably Memphis 12 years ago at South Carolina. We would outwork people.”

Meanwhile, Memphis coach Alex Simmons said: “I just think we competed. We played smart basketball at times. We had momentum, and then one undisciplined play kind of snowballed for us. And those are the types of plays we can’t let happen.”