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Dawn Staley Receives Good News on Tuesday

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Hugh Green | Last updated Oct 7, 2025 10:29 PM ET

Dawn Staley has had an incredible coaching career with the South Carolina Gamecocks. Since taking the head coaching position in 2008, Staley has led South Carolina to 13 NCAA Tournament appearances, seven Final Fours and has won three national championships. She has also won the SEC Coach of the Year seven times and the Naismith Coach of the Year four times.

Staley's Gamecocks were a No. 1 seed heading into last season's NCAA Tournament and made the national championship game before losing to Geno Auriemma and the UConn Huskies.

On Tuesday, with less than a month until South Carolina begins its 2025-26 season, Staley and the Gamecocks received some great news.

South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley.Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Kelsi Andrews, who is a five-star prospect in the 2026 high school class, announced her commitment to Staley and South Carolina on Tuesday. The 6-foot-4 center is the No. 4 overall prospect, No. 2 center and top-ranked player from the state of Florida, according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings.

Andrews is a senior at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, and chose Staley's Gamecocks over the LSU Tigers, Auburn Tigers and Mississippi State Bulldogs, among others.

She has battled through injuries throughout her high school career. Andrews has torn her ACL twice, and she said that Staley staying with her through those times was a big reason for her commitment.

"South Carolina just felt right," Andrews said, per 247Sports. "Through both of my ACL tears, Coach Staley never left my side — and that meant everything to me."

Andrews becomes the first commit in the 2026 class for Staley. With this big addition tipping the dominoes, there is no doubt more will start to drop soon for South Carolina and its Hall of Fame coach.

Staley and the Gamecocks open their regular season on Nov. 2 against Grand Canyon at 7 p.m. ET.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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