Gamecocks band director praises Dawn Staley for classy move before Sweet 16 game
South Carolina’s athletic band is making the trip to Albany, New York this week to cheer on and perform for the undefeated USC women’s basketball team in the NCAA Tournament.
Dawn Staley made sure they didn’t leave Columbia empty-handed.
According to a post on X (formerly Twitter) by USC’s assistant director of bands, Staley, the coach of the No. 1 overall seed Gamecocks, personally bought the athletic band lunch on Tuesday and provided them with homemade baked goodies for their flight to Albany.
“Whose coach buys the band lunch AND comes through with homemade baked goods for the flight? Ours does!” USC assistant director of bands Quintus Wrighten wrote Tuesday afternoon. “Coach @dawnstaley is truly the (GOAT)!”
Staley, who’s won two national championships at South Carolina, qualified for her 10th consecutive Sweet 16 last Sunday as No. 1 USC routed No. 8 UNC, 88-41, in a second round game at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia.
South Carolina (34-0) plays No. 4 Indiana in the Sweet 16 on Friday (5 p.m., ESPN) at MVP Arena in Albany and, with a win, would play either No. 2 Notre Dame or No. 3 Oregon State on Sunday. Staley and the Gamecocks are a 16-point favorite against the Hoosiers in the Sweet 16.
Staley, the 2024 SEC Coach of the Year and a finalist for the Naismith Coach of the Year award, has a history of supporting USC’s athletic band. After the Gamecocks won an Elite Eight game to advance to the Final Four in Greenville last year, she quickly made her way over to the band, jokingly conducted for a moment and danced with members after the final buzzer.
And after South Carolina beat UConn in the 2022 national championship game in Minneapolis, Staley brought the championship trophy over to the Gamecocks band so they could hold it and get in on the celebration.
Wrighten, according to his university bio, is the assistant director of bands and associate director of athletic bands at USC and “co-directs the basketball bands.” His Tuesday post about Staley drew praise from dozens of fans and observers:
- “The best!”
- “I love how she loves and supports the band!!”
- “Dawn Staley just simply “gets it” - exhibit approximately 1 million”
- “Our coach is better than yours! GO COCKS!!!”
NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 schedule
——Friday’s games——
2:30 pm: No. 2 Notre Dame vs. No. 3 Oregon State (ESPN)
5 pm: No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 4 Indiana (ESPN)
7:30 pm: No. 2 Stanford vs. No. 3 N.C. State (ESPN)
10 pm: No. 1 Texas vs. No. 4 Gonzaga (ESPN)
——Saturday’s games——
1 pm: No. 2 UCLA vs. No. 3 LSU (ABC)
3:30 pm: No. 1 Iowa vs. No. 5 Colorado (ESPN)
5:30 pm: No. 1 Southern Cal vs. No. 5 Baylor (ESPN)
8 pm: No. 3 UConn vs. No. 7 Duke (ESPN)
This story was originally published March 27, 2024 at 3:48 PM with the headline "Gamecocks band director praises Dawn Staley for classy move before Sweet 16 game."
