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When Dawn Staley came around giving South Carolina players their “livelihood” back: “NIL thing helps, they don’t want to mess it up”

Like every other coach, South Carolina's Dawn Staley had to adapt to the new NIL landscape which allows student-athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness. She was one of the few who embraced it quickly, even though initially there were concerns.

Staley has always been supportive of player empowerment, but the NIL era took that to a whole new level as she wanted her players to take full advantage of the opportunities available to them.

The three-time national champion coach discussed how she approached the NIL situation in an interview with Breakfast Club Power 105.1 FM, joined by Angela Yee, Charlamagne Tha God, and DJ Envy in April 2022. Yee asked Dawn Staley if she had social media rules for her players.

"I used to," Staley said, "used to maybe probably two-three years ago where we just wanted to give it up for the season, but then I'm looking at it like this is their livelihood, this is what they do. I want them to capture their college careers the way they want to.
"And they've been pretty good about it, and the NIL thing helps too because they don't want to mess that up. So, we bend a little bit with that, and we're cautious ... someone posts some crazy stuff, I just screenshot and send it to them, I was like, 'This is how you want your brand to be represented?' And then they get it."

Dawn Staley highlights colleges profiting from NIL revenue

During her appearance on News 19 WLTX earlier this year, South Carolina coach Dawn Staley discussed, in brief, the impact of NIL rules, highlighting how universities are the ones truly profiting from the new landscape.

"If you look at the billions of dollars that are being made from college athletics, people are benefiting," she said. "Who's benefiting? Universities are benefiting, colleges are benefiting.
"So, I think there are ways in which we can provide a way that every student athlete can benefit from being in this space. And that's why we take a lot of time to help our players build their brands."

Dawn Staley has led the Gamecocks to three NCAA titles, along with eight SEC regular-season and tournament championships.

The defending national champions are 11-1 on the season. They suffered a rare loss to the UCLA Bruins last month, ending a 43-game winning streak. Still, they are the No. 2 team in the country and favorites to win another championship.

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