Dawn Staley, South Carolina put HBCU on non-conference schedule
The undefeated national champion South Carolina women's basketball program has released its schedule for the upcoming season, which includes a matchup against an HBCU program.
Coppin State, an HBCU based in Baltimore , Maryland, will visit South Carolina to face the Gamecocks on Nov. 14 at Colonial Life Arena.
Coached by Dawn Staley , the Lady Gamecocks are coming off a historic season, finishing with a national championship and an impressive 38-0 record. They defeated Iowa, led by Caitlin Clark, 87-75 in the championship game.
S taley was open in her intention to include an HBCU on the schedule. She hinted at this on social media, stating, "When going to the peeps here on this app allows you to converse with great people and get options to complete schedules WINNING ... we gotta game y'all. Paperwork is not complete, but we are good for it! I love my HBCUs. Thank you all for reaching out! Love up," she tweeted on X.
Staley has expressed her commitment to supporting smaller schools, referencing her experience at Temple during a press conference. "When I was at Temple, we couldn't get a top team to play us besides Rutgers and Tennessee. Those were the only two coaches who really gave us an opportunity. It hurt them more than it hurt us. We were an up-and-coming program. We could challenge you. It didn't make sense for them, so a lot of them said 'No.' But I'll always remember what coaches Vivian Stringer and Pat Summitt did for us," Staley said.
Coppin State views this matchup as an opportunity to demonstrate its competitiveness against powerhouse programs. This will be the Eagles' second meeting with the defending national champions, having previously faced LSU last season, losing 80-48.
Coppin State is the only HBCU that broadcasts all of its home games live on ESPN networks. Last year, the Eagles finished the season 12-18 and lost in the second round of the MEAC tournament.
