Dawn Staley’s national champion Gamecocks honored with Columbia parade

Three national championships. Three parades.

The No. 1 South Carolina women’s basketball team (38-0) was honored Sunday in downtown Columbia for its perfect season and third NCAA title in program history.

Thousands of spectators lined the city’s Main Street for a 2 p.m. parade that proceeded six blocks, featured more than 100 entrants and culminated with a pep rally on the S.C. State House steps. Head coach Dawn Staley and USC player Te-Hina Paopao addressed the crowd along with comments from Columbia Mayor Daniel Rickenmann and other dignitaries.

It’s the third parade for Staley and her program. The Gamecocks also won national championships in 2017 and 2022 and were honored then by the city of Columbia with parades and pep rallies.

Dawn Staley rides in style

Head coach Dawn Staley and assistant coach Lisa Boyer were the center of attention in Sunday’s parade, in part because of Staley’s immense popularity — but also because of their sweet ride.

“Dawn Staley really pulled up in the Rolls-Royce,” ESPN posted to X (formerly Twitter).

Sunday’s parade lasted about 90 minutes before the pep rally portion began.

“Some people call it a dynasty,” USC president Michael Amiridis said in his speech to the crowd. “I know that you’re building an empire.”

South Carolina’s departing star Kamilla Cardoso rode in the parade while holding onto the national championship trophy.

Staley, speaking at the pep rally, revealed that Kamilla Cardoso skipped WNBA Draft orientation to be at Sunday’s parade. (The draft is Monday night.)

“If this is the last impression of what it is to be a national champion here at the University of South Carolina, you all have made it a special time for her to take on to the next level, which is the WNBA, where she’ll continue to do us proud,” Staley said. “I thank you for giving her an awesome experience. She is a two-time national champion.”

Super fans super excited

Angela Ammerman and Wendy Heffern waited on a crowded sidewalk outside city hall for a chance to meet the team.

Heffern hoped to have the players sign her basketball. Ammerman said she’s been a Gamecocks women’s basketball fan since she first started watching them in 2008.

“I remember when you could sit anywhere at CLA because there was nobody. And now it’s packed with lines all the time. It’s so exciting,” Ammerman said.

Former Gamecocks show up in support

Former Gamecock forward Melanie Johnson, who graduated from USC in 2007, arrived early Sunday to meet up with other former players and take in the parade.

She said when she was a player, she couldn’t have fathomed how much the women’s basketball program would grow.

“It’s almost unimaginable,” Johnson said.

She said she was excited to see how this year’s championship win was celebrated by the community.

“Seeing all the fans and everybody taking in the amount of joy the program has brought to the area — to the fans, from the old, the young — it’s just a good environment,” she said. “And it’s exciting just to see where the program was and where it is now.”

A number of former players took part in the parade.