Why Dawn Staley meeting Southern at March Madness was such a big deal

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March 20, 2026, 6:17 p.m. ET

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley gifted Southern’s team perfume samples after players complimented her scent.
Southern players expressed their admiration for Staley, both as a coach and a person.
Staley has been a vocal advocate for scheduling games with HBCUs to elevate their programs.
The No. 1 seed Gamecocks are set to host the No. 16 seed Jaguars in a March Madness matchup.

COLUMBIA — Just because a team wants to beat its March Madness opponent, doesn’t mean it can’t show respect.

South Carolina women’s basketball and Southern are proof that competitiveness sometimes even heightens admiration.

The No. 1 seed Gamecocks (31-3) are hosting the No. 16 seed Jaguars (20-13) on March 21 (1 p.m. ET, ABC).

Southern beat Samford in a First Four game March 19, and South Carolina coach Dawn Staley spoke to both teams once they got to Columbia.

Staley said a few of the Southern players told her she smelled nice, which prompted Staley to gift samples of the Louis Vuitton perfume she wears to the entire team.

“As soon as she got in the room, I want to say the whole room smelled like Dawn. All of my teammates just kind of noticed that so we told her,” Southern guard Jocelyn Tate said.

“I was hugging her so much,” Southern guard D’Shantae Edwards said. “I just kept smelling it. I kept going back for more hugs, too. I was like wow, she smells really good.”

Staley’s first NCAA Tournament was in 2012 and she hasn’t missed a March Madness since. This is Southern’s eighth March Madness appearance.

It’s the 10th time that South Carolina has hosted a regional, all under Staley.

“I think a lot of my teammates and I, we look up to Dawn,” Tate said. “We’re definitely a fan of hers. Having her come in and be able to give us a speech and just talk to us I think it was very insightful and I’m very thankful for her … it shows what kind of person she is. A lot of coaches wouldn’t do that. So I’m very thankful and I’m just glad I got to hear her in person and get some insight from her.”

Southern is an HBCU located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Staley has been vocal about scheduling games with HBCUs.

When Staley had issues scheduling games in 2024, she agreed to a home-and-home series with Coppin State, an HBCU in Maryland. Though Power 4 schools don’t typically travel to play mid-major schools on the road, the Gamecocks did on Jan. 18 in the middle of SEC play.

In September, Staley said South Carolina scheduled games with “some HBCUs just to lift up every aspect of our sport” and that “not every team will go and play an HBCU on their home court and we feel like it’s a great game, competition and coaching. If we can lift because we play the game and get some notoriety to the HBCUs, then we’ll do that.”

Though this matchup was out of her control, the impact is still the same.

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