Features

The Greenville News/USA TODAY Network • 1st April 2026

How South Carolina star Joyce Edwards found her voice on run back to Final Four

PHOENIX — To know what South Carolina women's basketball star forward Joyce Edwards is thinking, look at her face."We like to joke and say that anything she feels you'll see it on her face before it comes out of her mouth, it's just always been like that," said sophomore forward Adhel Tac.Edwards feels many things on the court but putting those thoughts into words isn't her typical first course of action."It doesn't make me uncomfortable, it's just a little bit of an inconvenience in my opinion,...

Greenville News • 26th March 2026

How Ta'Niya Latson proved transfer to South Carolina wasn't a mistake, but it wasn't easy

Ta'Niya Latson gave Florida State all she had to give.

The guard scored 30 points with seven rebounds, four assists and two steals in the second round Women's NCAA Tournament loss to LSU in 2025.

Then three days later as South Carolina women's basketball was preparing for its Sweet 16 matchup, news broke that Latson, the nation's leading scorer at 25.2 points per game, would enter the transfer portal.

The senior will play in her first career Sweet 16 on March 28 (5 p.m. ET, ESPN) but this tim...

The Greenville News • 18th March 2026

Meet Dawn Staley's secret weapon behind South Carolina women's basketball success

COLUMBIA — Dawn Staley got a chance to screen a movie early but she couldn’t get her TV to play. So she called Hudson Jacobs – the man whose video expertise has been pivotal to South Carolina women’s basketball's success since 2011. Jacobs has been instrumental to the 10 SEC regular-season titles, nine 30-win seasons, seven Final Fours, five Coach of the Year honors and three national championships. They all came after Staley made that first call to Jacobs 15 years ago after her third season wit...

The Greenville News/USA TODAY Network • 4th March 2026

What Dawn Staley took away from Madina Okot to bring out best in South Carolina star

COLUMBIA — This won't be Madina Okot's first SEC Tournament.

But things are different this time around.

Okot played one season with Mississippi State last year before transferring to coach Dawn Staley's South Carolina women's basketball program.

She started all 34 games, finishing with a combined 26 points and 18 rebounds across two SEC Tournament games, but the Bulldogs weren't the top seed.

This year's Gamecocks (29-2) won the regular season for the fifth year in a row and are playing for...

Greenville News • 21st February 2026

Why Dawn Staley vs Coach Yo is a ground-breaking women's basketball College GameDay

COLUMBIA — ESPN's "College GameDay" will be in Colonial Life Arena for the top-20 matchup between No. 3 South Carolina women's basketball and No. 17 Ole Miss.

The visit will mark Ole Miss' first appearance on the show and the fourth time the Gamecocks (26-2, 12-1 SEC) have hosted, which is the most of any women’s program.

But it also will be the first time both women's basketball teams featured have Black head coaches.

"Damn in 2026 we're still making history like that," South Carolina coach...

The Greenville News • 17th January 2026

How a Dawn Staley tweet turned into road game vs Coppin State for South Carolina

Darrell Mosley was an assistant coach at Arizona State with no clue that a social media post from Dawn Staley would ultimately impact him two years later.On Aug. 9, 2024, Staley used social media to schedule a home-and-home series, expressing a need for one more non-conference game for South Carolina women's basketball's 2024-25 schedule.Three days later, she gave an update, writing "We gotta game yall. Paperwork is not complete but we are good for it! I love my HBCUs!"According to records obtai...

The Greenville News/USA TODAY Network • 6th November 2025

Why Raven Johnson faces her biggest challenge in leading South Carolina to fourth title

COLUMBIA —  Seven. Seven. Seven. That’s how Raven Johnson taps in.Breathe in seven times. For each breath, hold it for seven seconds. Let it out for seven. The serenity helps amplify her grit. Still and unmovable in order to be relentless and unconquerable.Her pre-game breath work centers her as she prepares to lead South Carolina women's basketball at a steady but rapid pace. The fifth-year point guard is tasked with preserving the history of coach Dawn Staley's program, trying to become the se...

The Greenville News/USA TODAY Network • 4th September 2025

How South Carolina punter Mason Love uses music, muscle and a one-word tattoo to pursue perfection

COLUMBIA — Shane Beamer noticed Mason Love is always wearing headphones.If it's game day for South Carolina football, the punter is listening to Etta James or Louis Armstrong to start then transitions to more fast-paced music closer to kickoff.“He’s not antisocial, he’s a great young man, but it's like he has tunnel vision,” Beamer said. “For him to be a young guy, he’s very much a pro.”Beamer arrived in December 2020, and Kai Kroeger was his constant at punter. A coach with deep special teams r...

The Greenville News/USA TODAY Network • 4th June 2025

Dawn Staley's home is with South Carolina women's basketball but she's forever Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA — Dawn Staley doesn't want to move back to Philadelphia. For one thing, it's cold in the winter.

Staley, who has lived in Columbia since she started coaching South Carolina women's basketball in 2008, told her childhood best friend Dexter Matthews, she isn't coming back.

Philadelphia wants a WNBA team but when Staley returned home May 23 to promote her book "Uncommon Favor: Basketball, North Philly, My Mother and Life Lessons I learned from All Three," she shut down any hope she'd...

The Greenville News/USA TODAY Network • 3rd April 2025

Why Dawn Staley is unlikely to call timeout in Final Four. South Carolina players love her for it

TAMPA, Fla. — Cinder block walls, two twin beds, a closet and desks, posters plastered for decorations. A small fridge, a VCR and a TV were the perks.Tuttle-Dunnington House, located in the center of a cluster of dorms on Virginia's campus, was where 18-year old Dawn Staley felt safe.Staley had no desire to be the center of attention.Charlottesville wasn't home, and it wasn't Philadelphia. When the 5-foot-6 point guard arrived on campus to play college basketball in 1988, introversion swallowed...

The Greenville News/USA TODAY Network • 29th March 2025

Here's who South Carolina coach Dawn Staley relies on for balance if her message runs hot or cold

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. − Friday night's Sweet 16 game might have been a challenge for defending champion South Carolina women's basketball but it wasn't for assistant coach Khadijah Sessions.An intense environment, two teams battling for a spot in the Elite Eight and a game that had constant lead changes.As a South Carolina player and star guard for Dawn Staley from 2012-16, she's experienced all aspects of a March Madness. So as the No. 1 seed Gamecocks (33-3) beat No. 4 Maryland 71-67, Sessions knew...

The Greenville News/USA TODAY Network • 28th March 2025

Meet the 3-year-old South Carolina basketball fan with Dawn Staley, players' names braided into her hair

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. − The small stature comes with a large aura.Tay Harris weaved through the friends and family section for South Carolina women's basketball, and people noticed. Bouncing between high-fives, the 3-year-old girl greeted everyone, even Grammy Award winning rapper Plies.Last week, as March Madness kicked off for the No. 1 seed Gamecocks, Tay's hair made headlines.She arrived for the opener against Tennessee Tech with all the players and coach Dawn Staley's names braided into her hair...

The Greenville News/USA TODAY Network • 13th March 2025

How South Carolina's Sania Feagin emerged as the leader Dawn Staley needed after three inconsistent seasons

Sherri Feagin's feet were covered with confetti. She looked to her right at her daughter Sania and as she began to speak, a single teardrop fell.A few more followed. Glassy-eyed with a prideful smile.Feagin wiped the tears. She was donning a fresh "SEC tournament champion" hat and shirt, standing on the court in Bon Secours Wellness Arena after South Carolina women's basketball beat Texas for the program's ninth tournament title.Their arms intertwined, one on each back. A 6-foot-3 daughter with...

The Greenville News/USA TODAY Network • 30th December 2024

Why South Carolina's Shane Beamer says he is such an emotional football coach, tears and all

COLUMBIA — Shane Beamer's voice trembled.He was in South Carolina's locker room after the thrilling 17-14 victory at Clemson on Nov. 30."For that to be," was all he could say before South Carolina defensive back O'Donnell Fortune walked over to give him shoulder pads to cry on. Beamer latched onto the hug, as his players yelled, "Let it out, Coach!" in a video posted by the team.The tears Beamer wiped away weren't the first ones shed by the coach at a South Carolina football game.A year before,...

The Greenville News/USA TODAY Network • 26th September 2024

South Carolina football's Torricelli Simpkins heeds mom's advice, has backup plan in marine biology

This story was updated to add new informationCOLUMBIA — Torricelli Simpkins III faced a challenge.Simpkins was in fifth grade and with his family at the waterpark. He couldn't swim in the deep end of the wave pool. So, his grandmother's boyfriend gave him a swimming lesson.His feet kicked, his head dunked and his career path began to form.Simpkins, now a 6-foot-5, 319-pound offensive lineman, transferred to South Carolina football from North Carolina Central University in January and has immedia...

The Greenville News/USA TODAY Network • 26th August 2024

What South Carolina sees in quarterback LaNorris Sellers that his hometown of Florence already knew

When LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina football's new starting quarterback, was a toddler, his grandmother used to say, "That baby's been here before."

He was mature even from a young age, according to his father Norris Sellers.

Preparing his son to play football, the words of his mother continued to echo.

“That baby’s been here before.”

Sellers grew up known as the most athletic kid. That separated him from other young football prospects.

"Everyone always looked up to him, even guys older o...

The Greenville News/USA TODAY Network • 8th May 2024

How Las Vegas Aces star A'ja Wilson's openness inspires others outside of basketball

COLUMBIA — Zaria Corley has always loved South Carolina women's basketball.The 10-year-old has a simple routine. She watches the games and goes outside, practicing what she saw. Even before Zaria's famous rap about Aliyah Boston, she modeled her game after A'ja Wilson. Zaria loves Wilson's versatility, shooting a silky jumper or an making an up-and-under.She's fun to watch."Being a young girl, I've always wanted to be like A'ja Wilson, she inspired me to play basketball," Zaria, who is from Bate...

Massachusetts Daily Collegian • 2nd March 2023

Parenthood: UMass style

Back home in Amherst, Mass., Kya felt a contraction. Two of them, 15 minutes apart — “ok wait this is real life,” she thought.

Pregnancy teas and repeated movements on an exercise ball stopped. Kya knew one thing; she wasn’t having this baby yet so the next option was self-induced bed rest.

Noah Fernandes was on the road with the Massachusetts men’s basketball team. UMass prepped for Fordham, an Atlantic 10 matchup that brings nothing short of pure competition between the two schools. Noah, wh...

Massachusetts Daily Collegian • 24th October 2022

Quinn: The foundation and formation of UMass’ most passionate fan

The 6-foot-7-inch freshman scanned the Mullins Center crowd. Towels twirling, maroon and white jerseys scattered seats, popcorn crumbs pounded by students’ feet. Everyone was in sync, pumping their fists in the same motion, chanting the same songs. Yet one, spotted from any inch of a packed Mullins, was out of sync with the rest.

Quinn McCarron stood in his freshly thrifted reindeer costume. The hood hid his shaggy brown hair, the red nose bounced as he cheered, the felt antlers hanging on by a...

Sports Illustrated • 29th August 2022

The Trouble With the Pill

Starting back in high school in 2015, Annie Uyeki was always anxious when she had to leave a class. “I wondered, What does my teacher think?” she says. Anywhere from two to three times in an 82-minute class period, Uyeki had to step out. Her body demanded it. Now a lacrosse player at Vassar College, Uyeki was used to infrequent occurrences of excruciating pain that came with irregular and unbearable periods. She started taking birth control pills to help regulate them—she just wanted to feel com...

Sports Illustrated • 4th August 2022

Chazz Woodson Is Molding the Next Generation of Black Lacrosse Players

To elementary school students at Ransom Everglades School in Miami, he was Mr. Woodson. To the lacrosse community, he was Chazz: former high school All-American, two time Major League Lacrosse All-Star and frequent feature on SportsCenter’s top 10 list.To the current roster of the Hampton University Pirates men’s lacrosse team, he is Coach Woodson, sometimes Coach Chazz. To everyone, he is the head coach of the only active Division I men’s lacrosse team at an HBCU. But Chazz is so much more than...

Massachusetts Daily Collegian • 4th March 2022

Grow as you go: Angelique Ngalakulondi’s journey at UMass

The sun often shines through the clear windows and off the grey exterior of the John Francis Kennedy Champions Center. The Massachusetts women’s basketball team stumbles in on a crisp December afternoon. Routine set already, ordinary every day rituals begin to occur.

Up the stairs, past the weight room and above the practice court sits head coach Tory Verdi’s office. In preparation for UMass’ game against Boston College, routine was necessary. The Minutewomen run a systematic program. Routines...

Massachusetts Daily Collegian • 21st January 2022

A Collegian alumna’s journey of unfolding the relationship between sports and female empowerment

At one point in her life, Kathleen Ralls feared her true passion would delay her progress.
“I sometimes wondered, ‘Would my interest in slant towards female sports be a negative for me as I tried to advance in the [Massachusetts Daily] Collegian?’”
But since the start of her journalism career, her appreciation for women’s athletics has been a driving force in her work. Now editing her first book for publication, Ralls has epitomized her passion for writing about women in sports as she prepares t...

Massachusetts Daily Collegian • 30th June 2021

How Sarah Crowley found her footing on and off the field

Underneath the bed in her New York home, a notebook collects dust — not so much because of negligence, but instead because the ink that lies on the pages of the paper taught lessons that made Sarah Crowley who she is.Now, she keeps the notebook around and honors her growth by living the life that those ink filled pages told her she could.
An average Friday night for Crowley in high school was spent in the basement of a Long Island home, talking about boys, sports or various other teenager topics...