Records just keep on coming with Dawn Staley at the helm, and this time, one of her legendary students became a lucky charm as she was in the stadium to witness something historic. South Carolina women’s basketball has won the SEC regular-season championship once again for the fifth consecutive time.

The third-ranked Gamecocks breezed past No. 17 Ole Miss, 85-48, improving to 26-2 overall and 13-1 in conference play while clinching the program’s fifth straight regular-season league crown. This also takes their overall wins to 10 since Dawn Staley took over the program in 2008.

It felt like another walk in the park for the Gamecocks as they dominated the game from start to finish. After taking a 20-16 lead in the first quarter, the Gamecocks outscored the Rebels 46-18 in the second and third quarters to take a 66-34 lead into the fourth. The gap was simply too much for the Rebels to overturn.

The Gamecocks have not just won five consecutive games, but have done so in a conference as deep as the SEC. For years, it was Tennessee who were the considered the benchmark in the SEC with 16 regional championships, and now Dawn Staley is doing a takeover, establishing a new dynasty in the process. And not just regional, mind you, Dawn Staley has taken that to national success.

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Speaking of national success, it was A’ja Wilson who was part of Staley’s historic squad that won her the first iconic national championship in 2017.

A’ja Wilson Turns Up Courtside To Support Dawn Staley

A’ja Wilson is considered one of the greatest centers in not just WNBA history, but also South Carolina history. Considered as Dawn Staley’s greatest ‘product’ it was natural for her to be courtside cheering on her team.

After all, A’ja is Dawn Staley’s lucky charm. The four-time WNBA MVP has not just won a national title for the Gamecocks, but also three WNBA titles for the Las Vegas Aces. The connection that Staley and Wilson had established in college is still going strong, and you would often witness the Aces star gracing the Gamecocks’ games.

If you think Staley and Wilson’s partnership was just limited to national success, you are wrong again. As many tend to forget the success at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where Dawn served as the coach. A’ja was part of that team too, helping the USA earn a gold medal in the process.

Both A’ja and Dawn share a great relationship because of their longstanding relationship. It was not without anything that Wilson found herself to be the proud recipient of the Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award, and that speaks volumes.

Dawn Staley also retired A’ja Wilson’s No. 22 jersey after she had left the program to play in the WNBA. A touching tribute by the coach to her pupil. Wilson, too, gave her former coach a custom all-black Nike A’Ones, which is her first signature sneaker, so the relationship between the two has just blossomed as time has progressed.

So seeing Wilson attending the game at the Colonial Life Arena, where she shared many fond memories of her own, must have felt nostalgic to many. Every passing day, Dawn Staley is cementing her legacy deeper and deeper into South Carolina’s history books, and the way things are going at the moment, it’s unlikely to ever change.