Why Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley shows love to South Carolina band during NCAA success
South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley thinks college bands across the country “probably don’t get the credit they deserve.”
That’s not the case at USC, though.
Case in point: After the Gamecocks beat Duke 54-50 to advance to their fifth straight Final Four on Sunday and she conducted a quick TV interview, Staley made a beeline to the on-court section of Legacy Arena where the Carolina Band was sitting.
Before moving on to other postgame duties, Staley hugged band director Quintus Wrighten, high-fived about a dozen students in the two front rows and posed for a picture with the group, grinning and flashing USC’s “Spurs Up” gesture.
For the second year in a row, Staley also sent band members off to the regional round with a batch of homemade goods. Wrighten, USC’s associate director of athletic bands and a co-director of the basketball bands, posted a picture of him eating one of Staley’s chocolate chip cookies on his flight to Birmingham.
“Coach @dawnstaley did it again!” he wrote in a March 26 post on X.
After South Carolina beat Duke, Staley said it was “customary” for her to show love to the Carolina Band after big wins. She had a similar postgame moment with the group after USC beat Texas to win the 2025 SEC championship in Greenville.
“They really are part of the atmosphere that’s created in the gym,” Staley said.
A team having its band at a neutral site, such as this weekend’s NCAA Tournament regional, can have a tangible impact, she added.
“They’re injecting energy,” she said. “When they’re playing their songs, no matter what we’re doing, no matter how locked in we are, it just feels familiar.”
It helped that the majority of the 11,252 fans in attendance on Sunday were rooting for South Carolina. The combination of the USC band and cheering fans in Birmingham made the venue feel like Colonial Life Arena during big runs.
“When they’re able to give us some familiarity, you can lock into what needs to happen out there on the floor,” Staley said.
USC trailed in the fourth quarter for a second straight game but ultimately outscored Duke 16-8 in the period. With the win, No. 1 South Carolina advances to play either No. 1 Texas or No. 2 TCU in a Final Four game on Friday night in Tampa.
Band members are ‘part of it’
Staley is a longtime supporter of South Carolina’s band, and her gestures toward the group go back years. After USC won the 2022 national championship in Minneapolis, she brought the trophy over to band members so they could hold it and celebrate.
She was also part of a group of prominent supporters that donated money for the Carolina Band to help the group travel to New York City and perform during the 2024 Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade.
Staley, football coach Shane Beamer and USC alum and country music star Darius Rucker donated $25,000 apiece to help the band make it to NYC. Last fall was the first time South Carolina’s roughly 400-member band had played at the event.
“I really enjoy them,” Staley said. “Some of them have been here over the past four years and are going to their fourth Final Four. So I want them to feel a part of it.”
This story was originally published March 30, 2025 at 5:24 PM.
