While she prepares for the 2025-26 NCAA season, where the South Carolina Gamecocks will try to get revenge on Geno Auriemma’s UConn Huskies, Dawn Staley is looking beyond this season and setting the stage for new prospects to join one of the best programs in women’s college basketball in recent years.
The veteran coach, who interviewed for the New York Knicks head-coaching role after Tom Thibodeau was fired, is set to lead another group of talented players to the national championship.
Staley and Co. won the 2024 NCAA tournament against the Caitlin Clark-led Iowa Hawkeyes. They couldn’t repeat last season, as Paige Bueckers and Co. took them down in the championship game. While the season approaches, Staley received a notable visit that left her speechless with a nice and unexpected gesture.
Dawn Staley raves about unknown prospect’s grateful gesture after South Carolina visit
The 25-year coach took to X (formerly Twitter) to praise an undisclosed prospect who handed her a handwritten thank-you note after her visit to the campus.
“Good am!” Staley wrote. “In my 25 years of coaching, this is a first. I just received a handwritten thank you note from a top prospect…thanking us for her visit and recruitment over the years and good luck on our season. Extraordinary human being!”
She added another post praying that this prospect ends up joining her squad next season. While she didn’t reveal the name of the player, given the consequences it could carry, the post was retweeted by McKenna Woliczko, the sixth-ranked recruit in 2026, and her father.