‘You got me!’ How future Gamecock pulled off surprise commitment to Dawn Staley
Dawn Staley’s two-month wait to see if five-star recruit Kaeli Wynn chose South Carolina finally ended this week — but it wasn’t without a bit of (harmless) drama.
Wynn, who is No. 17 in ESPN’s Class of 2026 rankings, announced her commitment to the Gamecocks on Monday and put pen to paper for national signing day on Wednesday.
And the commitment call Staley got from Wynn was a genuine surprise, the Gamecocks’ head coach said Thursday. And that’s in part due to some hijinks on Wynn’s part.
“The night before, she was like, ‘Can we talk tomorrow?’” Staley recalled. “And I swear, I don’t like those, ‘Can we talk tomorrow’ [text messages]. They don’t feel good. And it didn’t feel good. So I’m like, ‘Can we talk tonight? Tell me tonight!’ That was the night before.”
That text left Staley with a bad feeling, so much so that Staley went as far to message her USC assistant coaches saying she felt Wynn, who is from California, would likely be choosing a different school. Stanford was Wynn’s other finalist in her recruitment.
“And she was like, ‘No, we’re at a fundraiser with my team so I’ll call you tomorrow,’ and then I put on our coaches, ‘She’s going to Stanford, y’all,’” Staley said. “I felt the energy and the text message, and then for real, I was really surprised. I did not think she was coming.”
As fate would have it, Wynn’s text message wasn’t to signal South Carolina was out of the race. It was a ploy to surprise Staley the next day.
Wynn called Staley after practice, with the help of USC creative media producer Jhalen Wingate, and told her she was committing to South Carolina.
The Gamecocks’ team and coaching staff erupted in celebration — and Staley reacted in genuine surprise with “You got me!” — as seen in a video Wynn posted on Wednesday that now has over 105,000 impressions on X/Twitter.
“I was shocked, honestly,” Raven Johnson said. “...When she called everybody was screaming.”
Wynn was one of two signees for South Carolina on Wednesday, the other being forward Kelsi Andrews.
Wynn, listed at 6-foot-2, plays at Mater Dei High School in California. During her junior season she averaged 17 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists as Mater Dei was ranked No. 1 in the nation throughout the season. She was named to the Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Girls High School Player of the Year Watchlist on Wednesday.
“Coming from a basketball family, Kaeli’s IQ and appreciation for the game’s intricacies add another level to her physical skill set,” Staley said in a release. “She has an unbelievable will to win, but her ability to involve everyone on the team and ensure buy-in to the team goals are what separates her from her peers. She is a perfect fit for our program.”
