College hoops fans send warm wishes as Dawn Staley poses for cute snap with pet dog on her special day

Dawn Staley has been the head coach of the South Carolina Gamecocks' women's basketball team since 2008. In this time, she has grown the program to be one of the best in the country. Although her team lost in the National Championship Game to UConn this season, they have won two of the three previous championships.

On Sunday, Staley celebrated her 55th birthday. The South Carolina Gamecocks' social media account wished her a happy birthday by posting a picture of Staley with her pet dog.

"FAMS help us wish the one and only @staley05 the happiest of birthdays today!! 🥳🎉," the post was captioned.

Soon, fans flocked to the comments to wish Dawn Staley a happy birthday.

"Happiest birthday to the GREATEST OF ALL TIME," one fan wrote.

"Happy birthday to the GOAT Coach!" another fan commented.

"This whole time I should have knownnn she was a Taurus!!!!" one fan added.

Fans continued to wish Staley a happy birthday in the comments on Instagram.

"Happy, happy day! May this be the best year yet!" one fan wrote.

"Happy Birthday to you!! *In my Stevie Wonder voice*," a fan added.

"Happy Birthday, Dawn!! I hope you have a blessed day and I wish you many more!" someone wrote.

Images via the comments of the Instagram post.

The South Carolina Gamecocks will unveil a statue in honor of Dawn Staley on Wednesday

Dawn Staley has more than just her birthday to celebrate this week. A statue honoring her will be unveiled at the intersection of Senate Street and Lincoln Street, next to the Pastides Alumni Center, on Wednesday. The statue will be located roughly half a mile from the A'Ja Wilson statue.

Plans for this statue were initially made public in 2023. But on Monday, it was officially announced that the statue would be unveiled on Wednesday, May 7, at 4 p.m. ET. With the announcement of the unveiling came a statement.

"This tribute celebrates not only her championship legacy as a coach and player, but also her unwavering commitment to leadership, community empowerment and uplifting future generations."

"Dawn Staley’s influence continues to inspire both on and off the court, and this statue stands as a lasting symbol of excellence, resilience and pride for Columbia and the entire state of South Carolina."

Staley is one of he most decorated head coaches in the history of women's basketball. She has won three national championships (2017, 2022, and 2024) with the Gamecocks with potentially more to follow.

About the author

Alexander O'Reilly is a journalist at Sportskeeda from Kingston, Ontario with over seven years in the field at companies including SenShot, RVBlogger, Monarch Media, WordAgents, GSeC LLC, and IGC.

His favorite college team is Duke, and his favorite sporting memory was Duke winning March Madness in 2010. JJ Redick was Alex's favorite college player when he was young but more recently, Caleb Williams gets the nod. As the Chicago Bears are Alex's favorite NFL team, this was a perfect match.

Alex's proudest moment came when he was interviewed by a radio station in Ottawa on his opinion on recent moves by the Ottawa Senators, which gave him a confidence boost and the knowledge that he could succeed as a writer.

Aside from sports, Alex likes to spend his time playing games. He is also very passionate about running and strives to improve at the half and full marathon distances.

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Edited by Satagni Sikder