"We're coming in hot": South Carolina's $33M man Shane Beamer backs Dawn Staley's team ahead of national championship game vs Iowa
The South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team will face the Iowa Hawkeyes on Sunday in the women's basketball national championship game.
This matchup has united the Athletic departments of both schools, with the individual teams sending their support.
Gamecocks football program head coach Shane Beamer has not only sent his support to Dawn Staley's team; he will be at the game in Cleveland.
Beamer, who inked a $33 million contract with the Gamecocks in 2023 that will keep him in Columbus until 2027, shared a video on social media of his plane in the air on its way to Cleveland.
"We’re coming in hot @GamecockWBB !!Can’t wait to watch you compete today Let’s bring another National Championship back to Columbia," he tweeted.
Both the Hawkeyes and the Gamecocks are coming into this game after having a strong NCAA tournament. But, unlike the Hawkeyes, South Carolina has not lost a game all season.
Victory in the national championship game against Iowa tonight would give them a perfect 38-0 record and their third women's national championship, the first two coming in 2017 and 2022. Dawn Staley was the coach for both of these titles.
If South Carolina emerges victorious, the Gamecocks would become the 10th team in history to win the women's tournament with an unbeaten record. The last team to do so was the 2016 UConn Huskies, who had won their fourth title in a row.
Read More: PHOTO: Dawn Staley and South Carolina crew shows off big guns ahead of national championship showdown against Caitlin Clark’s Iowa
Shane Beamer as the Gamecocks head coach
While Shane Beamer will be cheering on Dawn Staley and her team this evening, the focus of the college sports world will soon shift to football, with the forthcoming NFL draft and the start of the college football season both approaching.
2024 will be Shane Beamer's fourth season in charge of the South Carolina Gamecocks.
During his first year, the Gamecocks finished with a 7-6 record, which was enough to put them into a Bowl game for the first time since 2018. In that year's Duke's Mayo Bowl, South Carolina defeated the North Carolina Tar Heels.
In 2022, the Gamecocks finished third in their division with an 8-5 record in a season that included consecutive victories over the Tennessee Volunteers and Clemson Tigers, two of college football's stronger programs that year. They did this as an unranked program.
They would stumble last season, and Shane Beamer's side may struggle in the upcoming season as they are without quarterback Spencer Rattler, who has declared for the NFL draft.
Whatever happens in the fall, tonight Shane Beamer can support his university and potentially see the Gamecocks make history and win their third national championship.
Do you think the Gamecocks will win, or will Caitlin Clark deliver the first title to Iowa?
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