March Madness: Dawn Staley reveals South Carolina’s secret weapon, and it’s not a player

The South Carolina Gamecocks continue to be one of the teams to beat in all of women’s college basketball, and that’s likely going to be the case for as long as Dawn Staley is there.

The No. 1-seeded Gamecocks made it back to the Final Four for the fifth time in as many years. They took down Duke, and will now measure themselves against fellow No. 1 seed Texas.

Of course, coach Staley and the players deserve plenty of credit for this. However, she doesn’t want anybody to overlook Jacob Huden, the program’s director of basketball video services:

Dawn Staley tips her hat to video assistant

“I don’t know how he does it,” Staley said. “He gives us anything that we need. Remotely, physically, I don’t think he gets enough credit for organizing us. He’s up all times of the night. He just really does all the little things. He sacrifices his time for us. He’ll be over here getting videos of all the (other tournament) games while we’re at practice.”

Head coach Dawn Staley of the South Carolina Gamecocks

Jacobs has been a part of the program since 2011, and his work has been crucial for coach Staley and her coaching staff, especially when it comes to tournament games.

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Staley’s relationship with Jacobs goes back a long way. She has also used his services during her days as the coach of the USA national team, and he’s been instrumental in bringing back gold medals at the 2018 FIBA World Cup and 2019, 2021 FIBA AmeriCup, and 2020 Tokyo Olympics.