Dawn Staley Reveals South Carolina Team that Surprised Everyone & Inspired Her

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Steph Dwilson | Last updated May 21, 2025 10:00 AM ET

South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley's new book, "Uncommon Favor," is already getting rave reviews. During an interview with "Good Morning America," Staley shared a key "uncommon" moment from her time coaching the Gamecocks, and how that particular team has had a lasting impact on her.

Robin Roberts asked Staley how she came up with the name for the book. And Staley's answer veered into her experiences coaching the Gamecocks.

"There's no other description of my life..." Staley said. "I mean, people work hard for things. You can pour into yourself, you can prep for things. But when you are actually blessed with uncommon favor..."

She went on to talk about how at one point in her career, her "unlikeliest team" was the one that won a national championship, and it truly inspired her.

"I've had incredible teams," she said. "But the unlikeliest team won a national championship the undefeated way... So it's always crazy when I think about... Uncommon favor is when God said, 'I can show you better than I can tell you.'"

Staley is one of only five head coaches to lead an undefeated team to a national championship, her bio notes. She's been with the Gamecocks for 17 seasons and won three national championships during that time: 2017, 2022, and 2024.

When they won the national championship in 2024, they were the first winner to go undefeated since UConn in 2016, Gamecocks Online reported . They beat the Iowa Hawkeyes 87-75.

"We cried sad tears, unhappy tears," Staley told Today at the time, about the rocky road they had to get to that point. "And to get back to this place and finish the job and do it in a fashion that no one expected us to do it in, my cup runneth over with joy for our players."

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

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