When South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley took over the women’s basketball program, it was an achievement if the team won 20 games in a season. Fast forward to 2026, and the now three-time national champion Gamecocks have wrapped up a 29-2 regular season, claiming their fifth-consecutive Southeastern Conference regular-season title and their 10th in 13 seasons.
Staley, a former five-time WNBA All-Star and three-time Olympic gold medalist as a player, was appointed to lead the program in 2008 after spending eights seasons as the Temple head coach. When she took over, South Carolina had won 20-plus games just twice since joining the SEC in 1991.
“I never wanted to be a coach,” Staley said. “But sometimes you think you know what you want, and then life happens.”
By her fourth season in 2012, Staley had the Gamecocks in just their third NCAA Tournament appearance in the last 21 seasons. The Gamecocks have made the dance every year since.
“It’s easy to be a fan since it’s basically the only thing that we’re good at,” said William Garner, a second-year mechanical engineering student. “It’s such a dominant sport. I feel like it’s so easy to love, especially growing up a South Carolina fan and watching all the sports teams.”
Elite traditions
Staley notched her 500th win at South Carolina this season, and following a dominant regular season, students are eager to see the Gamecocks return to national glory for a chance to partake in the school's notorious celebration tradition.
"I remember when we won my sophomore year, it was so much fun jumping in the fountain," fourth-year public health student Jenna Geesaman said. "Then we had that few hours off from classes. It was just a great boost to everyone. You could see that campus was a lot happier."
Fourth-year criminal justice and Spanish student Max Brabham noted the spontaneity of the tradition when it occurred in his second year.
"They flooded the fountain last time," Brabham said. "I was in a study session when I saw everybody running through the fountain, so that was interesting ... It would help boost morale."
Students in their first or second years haven't had the chance to jump in the fountain, a school staple many are already well familiar with.
"I would love a chance to go swimming in that disgusting fountain," said Clara Brown, a second-year film and media studies student. "It's something that people want to see happen so that way they can be like, 'Oh, where I was the day that we won the national championship.'"
Made for March
South Carolina has gone all the way in two of the last four NCAA Tournaments. In the other two efforts, the team has been knocked out by generational talents. In 2025, it was the UConn Huskies and guard Paige Bueckers, who became the first overall pick in the WNBA draft eight days later. In 2023, it was the Iowa Hawkeyes and guard Caitlin Clark, the No. 1 overall selection in 2024.
Second-year public health student Mikayla Spencer said a national title could foster excitement after the team fell short last April.
"I know last year, there was a lot of disappointment with what happened when they lost," Spencer said. "This year could be a big boost in morale for the student body and just bring back more excitement for basketball."
Staley has led South Carolina to seven of the last 10 Final Fours, including five straight. The team has won the SEC Tournament in nine of the last 11 seasons prior to the 2026 tournament. The program has produced 12 WNBA Draft selections since 2020, tied for the most in the country.
Third-year history and political science student Meredyth Blake said the team's run to the national championship in 2024 let her know she chose the right university.
"It is probably the thing that made me 100% sure I went to the right school," Blake said. "I was an out-of-state student, and the year I decided to come here is the year they were in the nationals, and then they lost, but I was like 'Oh, my team is in the nationals. This is a great school.'"
For students at SEC schools, little matters more than football. Gamecock football won four games in 2025, five games fewer than its total in 2024. The program hasn’t had double-digit wins in a season since 2013. South Carolina football, baseball and men’s basketball have posted a collective record of 14-73 against power conference competition across 87 games from Jan. 1, 2025, through March 3, 2026.
Third-year environmental science student George Hannah said the women's basketball team bringing home a national title this season could aid the school's reputation.
"Our football team has not had a lot of success since I've been here," Hannah said. "Having a team that could bounce back and show the world that South Carolina is an athletic school would be really cool."
The Gamecocks women's basketball team went undefeated at Colonial Life Arena this season, touting a 16-0 record at home.
“I think it is super cool to be able to just be an example of what it could look like and feel like to have success," Staley said.
This year, South Carolina women's basketball won the SEC's regular-season title for the fifth consecutive season, the second-longest streak in conference history, trailing only legendary coach Pat Summit's seven consecutive titles at Tennessee.
"Dawn Staley also has made a really huge impact on women's basketball in general," third-year English student Gracie Bodine said. "With her Olympic wins and the national championship runs and stuff like that. I think it's given us another sport we can really come together on, not just football."
Basketball capital of the world
When it comes to women's basketball, there may not be a city in the country more supportive than Columbia, South Carolina. For the 12th consecutive season, South Carolina led the nation in women's basketball average attendance.
“The (games) that I've been to, blown away. It's awesome,” said Jacob Wood, a first-year aerospace engineering student. “Just the atmosphere of being in the crowd, and then also, our team is fantastic.”
This season, the team surpassed the NCAA record of 11 consecutive seasons leading the nation in attendance held by Tennessee from 2004-14. An average of 16,437 fans per game in 2024-25 set a program record.
"I would probably say 100% of national champions create a home court advantage," Staley said. "We haven't won enough national championships that will equate to the amount of support that we've gotten over the 12 years that we've done it, but 25% ain't bad."
Opposing coaches have taken note of the team's roaring home crowd too. Vanderbilt head coach Shea Ralph spoke about how she wishes her team's home games could mirror that of South Carolina's.
"This is a really tough environment to prepare for," Ralph said. "This is why I beg and plead for people to show up to our games because we want to have a home environment like South Carolina has for our kids."
The Gamecocks, coming off an uncharacteristic loss to then-No. 16 Oklahoma, returned home on Jan. 25 to comfortably handle then-undefeated Vanderbilt in a 29-point victory. South Carolina hasn't lost back-to-back games since the 2018-19 season.
"I'm happy that we responded to our loss," Staley said. "I'm happy that we can rise to the challenge of playing the top teams, not just in our conference, but they are top teams in the country."
Including the win over Vanderbilt, the Gamecocks won 10-straight to end the regular season. A road win over the No. 6 LSU Tigers on Feb. 14complimented additional ranked wins over No. 16 Kentucky, No. 17 Ole Miss, No. 19 Tennessee and No. 25 Alabama across the final six games.
"A lot of people will say that we are a women's basketball school," Jared Blazek, a fourth-year civil engineering student said. "I was there with the celebration when we won (the national championship) in 2024. The whole entire celebration, going into the fountain and everything, I mean, there's no other place like it."
When South Carolina won the national championship in 2024, it was the second time in a three-season stretch the program had done so. The school has appeared in three of the last four national championship games dating back to 2022.
"It makes me feel proud of our school," Trista Walters, a first-year political science student said. "I think that women's sports in general, people talk about it less than men's sports ... Our student body, we are very proud of our women's basketball team."
South Carolina's final ranked home game hosted a sold-out crowd of 18,000 against Ole Miss. ESPN's "College GameDay" was in town for the game. The Gamecocks won by 37 points.
"The students have been great," Staley said. "This section has been filled up, whether they get free t-shirts or free pizza or not, and they have been loud."
National spotlight
The Gamecocks' victory over Tennessee on Feb. 8 averaged 1.46 million viewers on ABC, the most of any women's basketball game this season. Less than a week later, South Carolina’s matchup against LSU on Feb. 14 overtook that title, averaging 1.7 million viewers.
The match up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was the first time ever that a regular-season women's college basketball game was featured on ABC's Saturday primetime slot.
Eight days later, when ESPN's "College GameDay" came to Columbia on Feb. 22, it earned its most-watched women's "GameDay" episode ever at an average of 1.2 million viewers.
"I don't think I could list one person that would be like, 'I wouldn't want to see us win a national championship in women's basketball. I wouldn't want to jump in the fountain. I wouldn't want to have that collective experience with all 35,000 other people that go here,'" Garner said.
While attention to women's basketball continues to surge in popularity nationwide, fandom of the sport has been a key piece to South Carolina for years. The program will compete for its third national championship in six seasons this month.
"Dawn Staley, thank you so much," said Roberto Santiago, a fourth-year information science student. "You really carry us."