"They have not made it to preschool": Dawn Staley hilariously embraces her new team's preparedness for the 2024-25 season

USC coach Dawn Staley had a funny description of her team and said that the Gamecocks roster had not made it to the preschool this year. However, Staley shared she won't care about such metaphors if her team wins the national championship.

Staley's program had its first practice session on Thursday afternoon. After winning the national championship last season, the coach is eyeing to repeat the magic. While talking to the reporters about the strength of her team, Staley said:

“They have not made it to preschool. So we're still very much in the midst of daycare. And I don’t care because if they can win us a national championship if they can bottle it up and do it again, let’s go with daycare.”

After the Gamecocks lost to the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Final Four contest in the 2022-23 season, the top players in USC went to the WNBA.

Staley had to dream big without Aaliyah Boston, Zia Cooke and Brea Beal for the 2023-24 season.

And Dawn Staley did it in style even though she had to build the roster from scratch. Gamecocks had an unbeaten 38-0 run in the national championship victory last season.

When asked to comment upon the new roster for the 2023-24 season she had after the departure of players like Aaliyah Boston, Staley quipped that the team had moved from 'doctorate to daycare'.

This season too Staley faces similar challenges. Kamila Cardoso went to the WNBA after being drafted by the Chicago Sky. But the Gamecocks coach is giving similar responses.

The spirits are high in the Gamecocks camp

Dawn Staley gave a snapshot of the enthusiasm of her team regarding the 2025 NCAA championship. She said that the team was addicted to victory after scripting history last season, per News19:

“They’ll let you know exactly how they’re feeling. They want to go win another one. They want to go undefeated. When you get a taste of it, you really want to follow up."

While the Gamecocks coach is deeply optimistic, she doesn't want to miss the realistic picture. Staley shared that repeating the national championship win would require efforts from everyone on the team, as per News19:

“There’s just going to have to be a collective effort from not just the bigs. You know, our guards have to bring it too. It’s going to take the strength of an entire roster.”

While Staley will pin hopes on the sophomores and seniors, she will also rely heavily on the freshmen. The Gamecocks coach added five-star high school National Player of the Year Joyce Edwards and Adhel Tac to boost the roster this year.

Do you think Dawn Staley will win the 2025 National championship? Let us know in the comments section below.

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