Shining moment: Gamecocks toast latest title with energetic Columbia parade

There were two minutes of silence. The music stopped Sunday afternoon on the steps of the State House, and the Carolina band wasn’t playing. It was just ... quiet.

The brief silence was a moment of thanks to the South Carolina women’s basketball team.

Chloe Kitts, sitting steps away from the lectern and overlooking the massive crowd, waltzed over to the microphone.

“Hello!”

The crowd roared. Raven Johnson followed.

“Y’all want me to sing?” Johnson said. More cheers.

Johnson didn’t sing, but the duo kept the energy flowing while the Gamecocks waited for head coach Dawn Staley to finish her parade obligations and arrive a few moments later. The USC band picked back up as Staley walked onto the steps of the capitol building.

It was hot, packed and festive.

Honoring an undefeated, national champion was no small affair. Fans were lining the Main Street parade route five hours before it began. There was dancing in the streets and spectators from all over. A group of friends drove from Pennsylvania for the parade, wearing their own custom-made hats.

Who needs silence when you’re having a city-wide block party?

“The love that you poured into us as we drove down Main Street,” Staley said in her speech, “it is uncommon.”

The cavalcade of floats and cars lasted an hour and a half before USC took the stage. Some floats were creative, with one adding headstones of all 38 opponents that South Carolina defeated. T-shirts and candy were thrown, fans capturing photos and videos of the spectacle before the Gamecocks turned onto the parade route.

They came in groups, with Kamilla Cardoso carrying the NCAA trophy on top of a pale green convertible. Staley made her entrance in a Rolls Royce.

The rally on the steps of Columbia’s State House was shoulder-to-shoulder tight. Columbia Mayor Daniel Rickenmann and USC President Michael D. Amiridis wasted no time praising Staley and the team for their accomplishments: 38 wins, 1,761 rebounds, 297 blocks, over 16,000 fans per game and nearly 19 million fans nationally watching the victorious April 7 title game win over Iowa.

“Dawn-asty or dynasty,” Amiridis said to Staley while addressing the crowd. “I don’t know what it’s called, but you’re building an empire.”

Staley was gifted a WWE-style belt, with the 2024 national championship logo across the center and lined with stones that sparkled in the afternoon sunlight.

Garnet and black shirts with that same logo or “The Revenge Tour” created a sea of people overflowing the roughly half-mile range. The Gamecocks waved and smiled, overjoyed at what was right in front of them. They all heard their names called and received a personal plaque from the city.

There wasn’t any aftershock from winning the championship just a week prior. There was confidence. The Gamecocks looked out at the thousands cheering for them, appreciating their national championship and opening talking about wanting to do it again.

Te-Hina Paopao voiced it, quoting Johnson and amassing loud cheers: “In the words of Raven ‘Crockpot’ Johnson, it’s time for a repeat tour!”

And talk abouta perfect send-off: Cardoso spent her final hours before the WNBA Draft with her team in South Carolina. Holding onto her second national title, Staley bid her farewell with a short but sweet acknowledgment — revealing that Cardoso was missing draft orientation in New York to be part of the Columbia festivities.

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

Staley made sure to thank everyone: athletic director Ray Tanner, Amiridis, the all-male Highlighters practice squad, the players and their parents, the FAMs and her assistant coaches, among others. She didn’t want to miss anyone.

The team went through heartbreak in last season’s Final Four, but the high of her third national title made it worth it.

The thousands watching her, hanging onto everything she said, couldn’t agree more.

The alma mater closed the afternoon, with everyone’s arms raised in unison as the Carolina band played the iconic tune in downtown Columbia.

“Only (seven) months away from the start of the next season,” Amiridis said.