COLOMBIA – Dawn Staley has smoked all year. The South Carolina coach is justifiably proud of what her Gamecocks did, going to 32-1 and being the # 1 consensus of the country’s women’s basketball team when the season was declared over, but she mentioned several times how her team never received the respect it deserved.
Never letting himself down, Staley is doing something about it.
Staley announced during an appearance on a Columbia television station Monday morning – in his 50sº anniversary, no less – that the Gamecocks were finalizing a deal to open the 2020-21 season in Oregon. The Ducks would come to Columbia in 2021-22 for the return commitment.
“We will try to open the season next year by playing in Oregon,” said Staley, warning that the deal has not yet closed. A USC spokesman confirmed that the plan is to schedule a home and a home.
The Ducks were the nation’s # 1 preseason team, but the USC took the lead on January 13, never leaving home for the rest of the season. Oregon finished 31-2 after winning the Pac-12 Tournament; Gamecocks were 32-1 after winning the SEC tournament, their fifth title in six years.
The coronavirus pandemic canceled the NCAA Tournament, so no one will ever know what would have happened if the Ducks and Gamecocks had met in the Final Four, or even if they had met. Still, in parentheses or simulated results that members of the national media predicted, almost everyone chose Oregon to win the national championship.
This did not please Staley, and she did not shut up.
“I feel that our team has been misinformed. They decided to stick with the pre-season narrative, ”said Staley. “They persisted throughout the season, although the narrative did not fit. There was a new team # 1, and it was us. “
The Gamecocks and Ducks are already part of next year’s November 4 Atlantis Battle in the Bahamas, along with South Florida, Syracuse, Central Michigan, Marquette, Minnesota and Oklahoma. But the tournament is divided into parentheses and not a round robin, so there is no guarantee that Oregon and USC will meet.
The opening of the season guarantees a meeting, and Staley doesn’t mind opening on the road. However, it will be a drastic difference between the two teams that failed to meet this year.
Oregon has lost four of its five holders, including consensus to national player of the year, Sabrina Ionescu. She was selected first in the WNBA Draft, with teammates Satou Sabally and Ruthy Hebard each going to the top eight.
The two Gamecocks veterans, Mikiah Herbert Harrigan and Ty Harris, were chosen sixth and seventh by the WNBA. But USC returns its other three entries, including National Freshman of the Year Aliyah Boston consensus.
The game will be a chance for Gamecocks, who should start the season ranked first, to write their own narrative next year.
CLA will receive new coverage
Soon, Colonial Life Arena will receive new coverage, according to the agenda of the Joint Bond Review Committee filed in the state legislature.
The roof, estimated at $ 2.85 million, will be paid for with operational funds from the athletics department.
The existing roof had a 15-year warranty that expired in November 2017. Water started to leak into the building through the membrane joints.
The new roof will come with a 20-year warranty.
Follow David Cloninger on Twitter @DCPandC.