Ahead of Dawn Staley’s Historic Night, Coach Prime Plans a Surprise for South Carolina Basketball

A women’s basketball game will be shortly played in the City of Lights for the first time ever when No. 6 South Carolina and No. 10 Notre Dame meet. “I think it’s pretty darn cool to be trendsetters,” said South Carolina coach Dawn Staley. The game’s unprecedented spread in stadiums and on television over the previous year has culminated in its worldwide premiere.

According to NCAA data, four programs—South Carolina, Iowa, Iowa State, and UConn—finished the season with an average attendance of more than 10,000. Last season, the Gamecocks were the only team to accomplish that mark. With special circumstances on the calendar, Coach Prime shared his love for Dawn Staley for taking her team overseas.

Coach Prime showers love on Dawn Staley

Deion Sanders aka Coach Prime took time out of his busy Sunday to drop a message for one of his friends as she prepared for a historic overseas game. South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley got a video message from Coach Prime as the Lady Gamecocks faced Notre Dame in France.

The “Oui-Play” game on Monday at Halle Georges Arena is unprecedented for women’s college basketball. Sanders and Staley are both sponsored by Aflac, which is also the title sponsor of the tournament. “Coach Staley, I love you. I appreciate you and what you bring to those young ladies,” Sanders said in a video posted on his official Twitter account. “What you’ve accomplished in life, in victory and in defeat—how classy, how strong—the bravado, the compassion, the love that you give off—it’s infectious.”

Dawn Staley reposted his video on her Twitter account as she wrote, “Back at you! And yeah, I know you are coming! I appreciate and love you and the impact you’re making. Stay prayed up!”

Read More:Days Before Making Women’s Basketball History, Hall of Famer Dawn Staley Taunts NBA, “Why Couldn’t We Do It?”

The friendly banter between these two legendary coaches pumped up the excitement for the upcoming Paris matchup.

Oui-Oui, NCAA first in Paris

Following the NCAA Tournament, ESPN reported that March Madness attracted the highest number of viewers since 2009.

Notably, a record 9.9 million people watched the Iowa vs. LSU championship game. Additionally, the regular season attracted the most views since 2014-15.

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When the South Carolina and Notre Dame teams got to France, their itineraries were crammed with youth clinics and visits to the Louvre to view paintings like Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa.” The match between the two extremely talented and successful teams is now the main focus.