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Paris Saint-Germain are keen to sign Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konaté in the summer and the player is interested in a move to the Ligue 1 club, sources have told ESPN.
The perennial French champions are seeking to bolster their defensive line and find a long-term partner for Marquinhos at centre-back. The acquisition of Konaté would also allow them to plan a long-term future without the Brazil international who turns 31 in May.
Sources have told ESPN that the France international is tempted by a return to the city of his birth. Konaté spent five years in Paris FC's academy before leaving for Sochaux in 2014.
The defender joined Liverpool in a 36 million ($45.3m) deal from RB Leipzig in July 2021.
He has since made 116 appearances for the Merseyside club and has this season cemented himself as Arne Slot's first choice to partner Virgil van Dijk in central defence.
The 25-year-old's current contract runs until 2026, with Liverpool keen to keep him at the club long term. In a news conference last month, Konaté confirmed he has been offered a new deal but refused to be drawn on whether he will stay at Anfield beyond next summer.
"I'm really focused on what will happen now and then we will see what happens," he said. "This is another conversation."
Konaté has won the FA Cup and two Carabao Cups during his time at Liverpool, but has suffered with repeated injuries that have contributed to him failing to play more than 22 times in a single Premier League season.
He has missed eight matches this season due to a "frustrating" injury he picked up during Liverpool's 2-0 Champions League win over Real Madrid on Nov. 27.
Slot's side are seven points clear at the top of the Premier League table. They host Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield in their next fixture on Sunday.
Information from ESPN's Beth Lindop contributed to this report
Sonny Baker awarded England Men's development contract
Baker, a former England Under-19, came through at Somerset before joining Hampshire over the winter. He was called up for the England Lions tour of Australia, making his first-class debut against Australia A in the final tour match and finishing with figures of 3 for 60.
His performances, which also included a match haul of 5 for 71 against a Cricket Australia XI, caught the eye of Lions head coach, Andrew Flintoff, with the ECB subsequently putting him on contract until September.
"It has been an absolute pleasure to see Sonny thrive over the winter," Flintoff said. "He and I are very different in character and personality, but it has been a delight to see the pride he takes in wearing the Three Lions, the energy he brings to every ball, and the theatre and magic he creates on the pitch.
"His professionalism and dedication to every aspect of his game are an example to all. Sonny has a bright future ahead, and we look forward to continuing to work with him and Hampshire over the coming years."
Charlotte Edwards offers ECB help with Ashes whitewash review
Edwards, the former England captain turned decorated coach, has not ruled herself out of taking over the head coach role if it becomes available in the aftermath of the review, saying in an interview this week that she felt better equipped than she was two-and-a-half years ago, just before Jon Lewis replaced Lisa Keightley at the helm. But she was even stronger on lending her support to the ECB's inquiry.
"I'm certainly more prepared because of some of the experiences I've had in the last few years," Edwards told the BBC's Stumped podcast. "I just want to help at the moment because I feel like this review's taking place and I think they've got to ask people within the game what they think. I've got great experience across county level, working in the WBBL, that hopefully someone will pick up the phone and ask what we need to do to get better.
"That's all I care about at the moment. I don't care who coaches the team, who captains the team. I just want English cricket to get back to where it should be. And I think we've got to use people who know what's going on to help and I feel I'm in a position to help and hopefully support the ECB in that process."
Edwards would be a leading candidate as England Women's head coach should the role become vacant given her outstanding success in the world's top franchise leagues and at domestic level.
Having initially said she was interested in taking the England job in September 2022, Edwards decided against applying a couple of weeks later, saying she was enjoying her burgeoning franchise coaching career with Southern Brave in the Women's Hundred and WBBL side Sydney Sixers, as well as leading Southern Vipers in the domestic women's competition, which included a T20 competition named in her honour.
Edwards has led Southern Vipers to five titles, including two Charlotte Edwards Cup victories - the second as part of a domestic double in 2023 - and Southern Brave to three Women's Hundred finals, winning the 2023 edition. She also led Sydney Sixers to the WBBL final in her first season in charge in 2022-23.
During that time, her franchise coaching portfolio expanded to include Mumbai Indians, who are about to begin their campaign for a second title in three years under her guidance, having won the inaugural WPL trophy. She has also been appointed head coach of Hampshire Women under the new domestic structure in England and Wales beginning this season.
Edwards said she watched much of the Women's Ashes, where England were thumped by more than 50 runs in three white-ball matches and by an innings in the Test, with a sense of "real disappointment".
"Hopefully this will be a moment, a line-in-the-sand moment, for the team and for the ECB to have a look at where we're going with the women's game because there's a lot of good things happening and I think that's what makes it sad for someone who's involved in the system," Edwards said. "There's a lot of good things happening within the counties and the regional structure and it hasn't necessarily been portrayed with the England team, so that's a worry, I guess, and something that needs to be looked at."
Lewis described England's group-stage exit from the T20 World Cup in October as a "line-in-the-sand moment" and his position has come under increased pressure following that performance, most notably England's shocking fielding display against West Indies, which knocked them out of the tournament.
During the Ashes, there were few signs of improvement in the field, which along with some poor decision-making with the bat and a failure to adapt under pressure from the Australians, saw England unable to pose any real challenge other than in the rain-affected second T20I, which they lost by six runs on the DLS method.
Since the T20 World Cup, England's fitness has also come under scrutiny after commentator and former spinner Alex Hartley said that a handful of players were "letting the team down" with their fitness levels.
While Lewis has stood firm in his defence of England's work in training, even suggesting that Australia's outdoor lifestyle gave them an advantage in producing athletes, Edwards said there was plenty of ground to be made up to match Australia physically.
"I think if you do a comparison, they are more athletic and they are fitter and that's what we need to now aspire to be like," Edwards said. "That's part of our jobs at county level is to now support these players to be fitter, to be more athletic so that we can compete with Australia, so there aren't those question marks when we play them because that was the hardest thing, wasn't it? Having that kind of noise in the background when it's not just all about the cricket.
"I think we can turn this around. I don't think it's as big a gap as people make out that there is. I know that's probably quite a stupid thing to say, having been beaten 16-nil, but we are talented, we have a lot of talent in our country, and I think now hopefully this moment we will be a moment we'll look back on with, I guess, real positivity."
The ECB review is expected to release its recommendations in the coming weeks.
Zimbabwe 299 for 5 (Bennett 169, Ervine 66, Adair 2-55) beat Ireland 250 (Campher 44, Muzarabani 4-51, Ngarava 3-56) by 49 runs
Promoted to opener for the first time in ODI cricket, Bennett struck 56.52% of Zimbabwe's total to give Ireland a target of 300 to chase. Along the way, he also became the fourth-youngest to score 150-plus in a men's ODI and posted the fifth-highest ODI score by a Zimbabwe men's batter.
A 9.30am start with rain in the air, and Harare historically favouring chasing sides, Ireland captain Paul Stirling made the logical call of bowling first. But Josh Little, the left-arm swing bowler, had a rough return to the ODI line-up as he conceded 35 runs in his first three overs. Bennett was the chief aggressor, pumping him for six fours in his first three overs, while Ben Curran carved another couple. He would eventually finish on 1 for 75 in nine overs with an economy of 8.33, conceding 11 fours and five wides in all.
The prolific start, and the lack of incision from the Ireland new-ball bowlers, allowed the Zimbabwe opening partnership to grow. They put on 95 for the first wicket before offspinner Andy McBrine (1 for 53) broke the stand.
There was no respite, though, as Bennett and the No. 3 Craig Ervine then added 136 in 134 balls in a second-wicket stand that was constructed masterfully. They were watchful through the middle overs with some turn in the pitch and the pair of Matthew Humphreys and McBrine appeared to strangle the pair.
While Bennett took an affinity towards point, extra cover, deep midwicket and deep square leg with his 20 fours and three sixes, Ervine was more adventurous by moving across and trying to find empty pockets over fine leg. As the stand grew and Zimbabwe's run-rate got a boost, Bennett too played with the Ireland bowlers by using the width of his crease to create boundary-scoring opportunities.
The pair capitalised on three dropped catches and one missed stumping to bring up Zimbabwe's 200 in the 38th over, and a big target was very much on before Ervine fell against the run of play to medium-pacer Graham Hume in the 41st over. Sikandar Raza and Wessly Madhevere, though, failed to keep the momentum up, and the big shots came from only Bennett's end in the final ten. After batting for 216 minutes, Bennett perished in the final over trying to find a big shot, and his effort ensured Zimbabwe finished on 299 for 5.
"I was pushing them for a while to get up [to open], and happy to get that opportunity," Bennett said after the game. "I just wanted to watch the ball and hit the ball. It's a very good sign, and I hope to do that again on Sunday. I wanted to take it deep as one of the set batters among the top four."
The chase began inauspiciously for Ireland as Andrew Balbirnie was caught behind off Ngarava in the first ball but the rest of Ireland's batting unit showed enough promise that the chase could be pulled off, only to lose their wicket when the tide appeared to turn. Stirling was deceived by a Muzarabani short ball to fall for 32, Curtis Campher edged a wide ball from Raza to the keeper on 44, Harry Tector scooped Madhevere to fine leg on 39 and Lorcan Tucker inside-edged Muzarabani onto his stumps on 31.
At 169 for 6 in 35.2 overs, Ireland's chase appeared to lose its fizz, but an eighth-wicket stand of 73 in 9.1 overs between George Dockrell (34) and McBrine (36) brought life into the game and started to make the home crowd nervous.
However, Ervine turned to Muzarabani for the 45th over, and he picked off both set batters in the space of four balls, and Ngarava wrapped up the tail in the 46th for a tame finish to a high-octane game.
"We gave Bennett a chance or two and he made us pay," Stirling said after the defeat. "We were rusty [in the field] when we shouldn't have been. I felt 50 runs was the difference between the two sides and the result reflects that. [A target of] 300 was chaseable, and at 30 overs we were in the hunt. But we lost our way. We bat pretty deep and hopefully we do well with the bat next game."
Sreshth Shah is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @sreshthx
Latham, Mitchell fifties take NZ to tri-series title after bowlers restrict Pakistan
New Zealand 243 for 5 (Mitchell 57, Latham 56, Naseem 2-43) beat Pakistan 242 (Rizwan 46, Agha 45, O'Rourke 4-43, Santner 2-20) by five wickets
Latham had benefitted from multiple reprieves - he was dropped by Shaheen Shah Afridi off his own bowling on 15, and then by Saud Shakeel at square leg on 29. Earlier, when he was on 13, legspinner Abrar Ahmed pinged him on his pad and wasn't given out lbw. Pakistan missed a trick by not going for a review, with ball-tracking indicating that it had pitched in line and would have crashed into the stumps.
Abrar, Pakistan's specialist spinner, lacked penetration, and was taken for 67 in his ten overs. In stark contrast, New Zealand's premier spinner Santner was unhittable, coming away with his most economical ten-over spell in ODI cricket. Forty of his 60 balls were dots as Santner varied his pace from the mid-70s kph range to mid-90s kph with remarkable control. Bracewell also kept things tight, finishing with 2 for 38 in his ten overs.
The first powerplay was a portent for Pakistan's go-slow. They played out 48 dots in the powerplay, in which they managed 48 for 2, and failed to hit a high tempo through the innings. After taking a sequence of short balls away from Fakhar Zaman with his sharp angle from over the wicket, including two off-side wides, O'Rourke brought a fuller one back into the opener and had him chipping a catch to square leg for 10 off 15 balls.
Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan needed 13 balls to get off the mark, and then four more balls to find the boundary. Salman Agha was more fluent at the other end, wedging the ball into the gaps as the pair forged an 88-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
The stand, however, ended when O'Rourke returned to the attack and had Rizwan chopping on with a cross-seamer, which stopped on him, for 46 off 76 balls. After hitting hard lengths and the splice of batters with high pace and bounce in the early exchanges, O'Rourke proved that he could be just as effective with the older ball. Almost five overs later, Bracewell had Agha miscuing a reverse sweep to short third to leave Pakistan at 161 for 5 in the 37th over.
Tayyab Tahir then gave the innings a leg-up with his 38 off 33 balls, but his innings was cut short by Duffy in the 42nd over. In the last eight overs, New Zealand conceded just four boundaries, keeping Pakistan to 242.
The new ball did a lot more under lights, with Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi using the swing and seam movement on offer to apply pressure on Conway and Williamson. In the first powerplay during the chase, the broadcaster put up a graphic showing the average swing achieved during the two innings. New Zealand's seamers had generated 1.5 degrees of swing, and Pakistan's 2.4 degrees.
The experienced pair of Conway and Williamson absorbed all of that pressure, and once the ball became older and softer, they picked away Pakistan's spinners. Williamson carted Agha's offspin over mid-off while Conway flayed Abrar and Khushdil Shah through the covers. When Williamson tried to pop Agha over the infield once again, he caused the ball to dip and turn to castle him for 34 off 49 balls. Conway then departed two short of his half-century, but the depth in skill in New Zealand's middle order was too much to overcome for Pakistan.
New Zealand will be strengthened further by the potential return of Ravindra and Ferguson for the Champions Trophy opener on Wednesday.
Deivarayan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
Ghosh, Ahuja script stunning comeback as RCB complete WPL's biggest chase
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 202 for 4 (Ghosh 64*, Perry 57, Ahuja 30*, Gardner 2-33) beat Gujarat Giants 201 for 5 (Gardner 79, Mooney 56, Renuka 2-25) by six wickets
A run-fest that produced the highest aggregate as well as the highest successful chase in the WPL ended with defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru chasing down 202 in a canter in Vadodara.
RCB maintain an early leash
Renuka Singh struggled for accuracy in her first two overs, but her first attempt at bowling stump-to-stump rather than searching for devious inswing led to Laura Wolvaardt being bowled for 6 in the fifth over. D Hemalatha came in at N0. 3 for Giants rather than Harleen Deol, and they were two down when she sliced the offspinner Ahuja to point. Giants were 41 for 2 in the seventh.
Mooney ups the ante
Gardner takes charge
At the other end, Gardner continued from where she had left off at the Women's Ashes earlier in the month by taking toll of Rawat's inexperience and hitting her for three consecutive sixes. After hitting the first two over long-off and long-on, she pummelled the half-tracker that followed over deep backward square leg.
Gardner was able to sustain this momentum against Wareham in the following over when she hit her for back-to-back fours. The Dottin-Gardner partnership had surged to 63 off 26 balls when Perry dropped a set Dottin at long-on, but it wouldn't cost RCB much as she fell four balls later.
Gardner ended the innings in a blaze, taking down the teenaged seamer VJ Joshita as Giants hit 49 off the last three overs. Garner's innings was studded with three fours and eight sixes.
Giants turn sloppy after Gardner's big strike
Gardner came into this match having dismissed Mandhana more often than any other bowler in T20s, and the head-to-head now gained a ninth dismissal. After starting the innings with back-to-back fours, Mandhana was lbw in the second over to a Gardner slider. In the same over, Danni Wyatt-Hodge fell attempting a slog on her RCB debut.
At this point, Giants turned sloppy. Left-arm spinner Tanuja Kanwar put down Perry off her own bowling in the fourth over, when she was on 2, and Deol then dropped her at long-on in the eighth over when she was on 19. In between, wicketkeeper Mooney failed to collect a throw from Simran Shaikh at midwicket when Raghvi Bist and Perry were both mid-pitch following a mix-up. Bist, on debut, was on 15 then.
RCB quickly went from 55 for 2 to 89 for 2 from overs 7 to 10.
Enter Richa Ghosh
Ghosh faced her first ball in the 12th over with RCB needing 101 off 53. That's the only ball she might have faced but for Shaikh putting down her slog-sweep at deep midwicket. But the agony of that dropped chance seemed to dissipate when Perry was out caught at long-on in the next over, leaving RCB needing 93 off 46.
It should have galvanised Giants, but things turned pear-shaped instead. The big momentum shift came in the 16th, when Ghosh clubbed Gardner for four fours and a six. A superb cocktail of muscle and finess allowed Ghosh to scythe a wide yorker between deep cover and long-off with two fielders out as easily as she slog-swept the offspinner when she fired it into her hitting arc.
The 23-run over brought the equation down to 40 off 24, at which stage Ahuja joined in the fun. Ghosh brought up her half-century off just 23 balls in the 18th. Giants were deflated, and RCB soon brought up victory with nine balls to spare.
Shashank Kishore is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
Gators' Handlogten returning after '24 leg break
Florida center Micah Handlogten, who gruesomely broke his left leg in the SEC championship game in March, is returning to the court.
Handlogten announced Friday that he decided to forgo a redshirt and play this season, beginning Saturday against South Carolina.
The 7-foot-1 junior will help the third-ranked Gators (21-3, 8-3 SEC) deal with the loss of starter Alex Condon, who is expected to miss a week or two with a sprained right ankle. Backup Sam Alexis also is sidelined with a sprained left ankle.
"I'm ready to get out and hoop for the Gators," Handlogten said.
Handlogten has been cleared for more than a month, and coach Todd Golden has said repeatedly that Handlogten would have final say in whether he plays this season or waits for the next one. Handlogten initially planned to return three weeks ago but changed his mind hours before a home game.
He started taking part in team activities in December and can regularly be found dunking in pregame warmups. He would provide a boost for an inexperienced frontcourt that has been pushed around at times this season and is now down two guys.
Handlogten has a unique skill set in the post.
The North Carolina native has totaled 419 points, 544 rebounds and 104 blocked shots in two collegiate seasons, one at Marshall and one at Florida. His 108 offensive rebounds last season were the second most in school history.
Handlogten averaged 5.9 points and 6.3 rebounds per game with the Gators in 2023-24 before his season ended abruptly in the SEC tournament.
He landed awkwardly on his left foot while going for a rebound against Auburn. He immediately fell to the court in pain and rolled onto his side, putting his hands to his face. Handlogten's parents were escorted onto the court to be by his side. Handlogten's leg was stabilized in an air cast before he was placed on a backboard and taken off the court on a stretcher.
He had a rod and two screws inserted into his leg at Vanderbilt University Medical Center but managed to rejoin the team for the NCAA tournament in Indianapolis a few days later. The Gators lost to Colorado in the opening round with Handlogten watching from behind the bench.
Handlogten has been a cheerleader through 24 games this season, often leading the bench in organized celebrations and pregame pageantry.
His return will allow him to play alongside close friends and seniors Walter Clayton Jr. and Will Richard. More importantly, it would leave Florida pushing all-in on trying to win a championship with its talented and deep roster.
Getting defensive: Hunter enters combine as DB
NEW YORK -- Travis Hunter, the Heisman Trophy winner who played offense and defense at Colorado, is listed as a defensive back for the NFL scouting combine.
The league on Thursday released the list of 329 players invited to the scouting combine in Indianapolis from Feb. 24 to March 3.
Hunter is regarded as one of the greatest two-way college athletes since football shifted away from such players in the 1940s. He was named first-team cornerback, first-team all-purpose player and second-team receiver on the 2024 Associated Press All-America team.
Hunter has said he wants to play on both sides of the ball in the NFL. His being listed as a defensive back indicates that's where scouts believe he will play as a pro.
He finished last season with four interceptions, 11 pass breakups and 36 tackles, including one for loss. Offensively, he had 96 catches for 1,258 yards with 15 receiving touchdowns and one rushing.
His coach at Colorado, Deion Sanders, is regarded as one of the best defensive backs in NFL history, but he also played some wide receiver. The Pro Football Hall of Fame member caught 36 passes for 475 yards and a touchdown for the Dallas Cowboys in 1996.
Seven steps to building a dynasty: Dawn Staley, A'ja Wilson and the rise of South Carolina
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- There's always noise on game days. On a windy Sunday afternoon in January outside Colonial Life Arena, traffic snarls in all directions, fans dressed in garnet and black form long lines, and laughter seems ever present.
Inside, closer to tipoff, 18,000 Gamecock faithful -- known as the G-Hive -- bring nonstop energy, treating game day like a cross between a holiday party and a concert for their favorite band.
Welcome to South Carolina women's basketball.
For the opponent, the atmosphere -- not to mention the Gamecocks -- can be overwhelming. On this day, Oklahoma, one of eight ranked teams in the SEC, can't find any answers. The Sooners, used to running their opponents into the ground with their fast pace, lose by 41 points. Gamecocks sophomore MiLaysia Fulwiley and freshman Joyce Edwards make highlight reel plays; five SC players score in double figures.
It was the 18th win of the season for South Carolina, which hosts UConn on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, ABC). After a 38-0 national championship season last year, the Gamecocks are looking to run it back in 2025 -- and to cement their reputation as one of the top teams in all of college sports.
"They're who all of us are looking at in terms of being able to build the depth, the culture they have, the crowd," Oklahoma coach Jennie Baranczyk said. "This is, right now, the example in women's basketball."
But when coach Dawn Staley took over the Gamecocks in 2008, they had been to the NCAA tournament just twice in the previous 17 seasons. After finishing 10-18 and 11th in the SEC in Staley's first season, the Gamecocks were 29-5 and league champions -- with a trip to the NCAA tournament Sweet 16 -- in her sixth.
Early on in Columbia, Staley built the program's talent with regional recruits and its attendance with almost tireless accessibility. She chatted with fans, in person and on social media, stopped in restaurants for lunch and gave away game tickets, becoming the approachable face of her team, the university and the city of Columbia.
What came next was even harder: maintaining it. Staley has done that, too. From 2014-15 through 2023-24, the Gamecocks went 319-35 overall and 147-13 in the SEC. They won three NCAA titles, made another three Final Four appearances, won eight SEC regular-season and tournament titles, led Division I in attendance every year and produced two WNBA No. 1 draft picks in A'ja Wilson and Aliyah Boston.
South Carolina's dominance has changed not only the program and the SEC, but the balance of power in women's college basketball. And the No. 4 Gamecocks, 23-2 overall and 11-1 in the SEC, are once again a national championship contender. UCLA and Texas, which are also in the mix for No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament, are the only teams to beat South Carolina this season.
"I just came here wanting to win, wanting to be a sponge to it all," said Wilson, a three-time WNBA MVP whose South Carolina career from 2014 to 2018 helped launch the decade of dominance. "To see the legacy and longevity of this program, where it's going ... that's what we were built on, that's our culture."
Here are some of the milestones, pivotal moments, triumphs and heartbreaks over the past 10 seasons that helped South Carolina become the dynasty of women's college basketball.
April 16, 2014: A'ja Wilson announces she is staying home
A statue of Wilson was unveiled outside Colonial Life Arena in 2021, and her No. 22 jersey was retired there earlier this month. She's an NCAA champion with two WNBA titles and two Olympic gold medals. No player has had more impact on the program -- all thanks to two weekly phone calls that helped Staley land Wilson, the No. 1 recruit in the country in 2014.
Wilson grew up in greater Columbia and attended Gamecock basketball camps. Her father, Roscoe Wilson, was a former basketball player who had trained her and brought her to Staley's attention. As Wilson blossomed into a superstar recruit every program wanted, Staley realized someone else held the key to getting her to be a Gamecock.
"In every process, you have to find that person who really knows what's going [on] inside the recruit's mind. And it was her mom, Eva, for A'ja," Staley told ESPN. "I usually try to talk to recruits once a week. And then we added her mom once a week."
"Few have impacted women's basketball quite like Dawn Staley." @GamecockWBB's Dawn Staley is a legend in the game and a pioneer, whose legacy will have a lasting impact pic.twitter.com/zr61LvSmDj
SEC Network (@SECNetwork) February 13, 2025
Eva Wilson told Staley that her daughter was dealing with dyslexia, something A'ja would open up about near the end of her college career to help inspire others. Staley told Eva every resource would be available to Wilson, and she would be there for her, too.
But as the time came for Wilson to publicly announce her college choice, Staley and her staff weren't sure of her decision.
"We found out like eight minutes before she was going on TV to say it," South Carolina associate head coach Lisa Boyer told ESPN. "She was heavily recruited. We were dealing with UConn, with North Carolina, with Tennessee at that point."
Tennessee coaching legend Pat Summitt had stepped down in 2012 because of early onset Alzheimer's. North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell missed the 2013-14 season battling cancer, while then-assistant Andrew Calder guided the Tar Heels to the Elite Eight, beating South Carolina in the Sweet 16. Wilson made her decision less than a month later.
"I don't know what would have happened if Pat and Coach Hatchell hadn't been sick then, if that might have changed anything," Boyer said. "But we did know how strong a connection Dawn had formed with A'ja and her family."
Wilson has had the most impact on the program, but she wasn't the first foundational recruit for Staley. That was guard Tiffany Mitchell of Charlotte, North Carolina, who picked the Gamecocks in 2012.
"Tiffany committed to me and our program before it was popular," Staley said. "She was one of the top players in the country and chose us."
Mitchell was the spark that lit South Carolina's torch, and getting Wilson ensured the flame wouldn't go out. Her success and popularity opened even more recruiting doors nationwide for South Carolina, while her local roots further endeared the program to fans.
Wilson has said that Staley always understood the right buttons to push and that her mother sensed that, too.
"Eva knew, just from our conversations, what we needed and what A'ja needed, and that it would be the perfect fit," Staley said. "It probably would not have worked out as beautifully if she wasn't from here. Like if she was the No. 1 recruit from the Midwest, or the Northeast or the West Coast or someplace? I don't think we would have this kind of momentum that we've built from the time she walked on campus."
March 29, 2015: Gamecocks reach their first Final Four
The Gamecocks entered 2014-15 knowing there was a huge step to take.
The season before, they won Staley's first SEC regular-season title and then made the Sweet 16. With standouts like Mitchell returning and Wilson joining them as a freshman, excitement around the program had never been higher.
Mitchell, then a junior, realized South Carolina was on the verge of something much bigger than she had dreamed when she chose the Gamecocks.
"I never knew committing would ignite such a change in the program," Mitchell said. "But I trusted Dawn and she trusted me to help change the narrative at South Carolina."
In 2015, the Gamecocks went 15-1 in the SEC, their best record since joining the conference in 1991-92. They won the SEC tournament for the first time, beating Tennessee -- the league's long-time standard-bearer -- in the final.
After cruising through the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament, the Gamecocks met North Carolina in the Sweet 16 for the second year in a row. The regional, in Greensboro, North Carolina, was closer to the Tar Heels' campus, but by this point the traveling party with the Gamecocks was enormous.
South Carolina prevailed 67-65. The first Final Four in program history was one win away. But with three minutes to play in the Gamecocks' regional final against Florida State, they trailed 67-65. Someone had to take over.
Mitchell did, with an assist and then seven consecutive points in an 80-74 win that sent South Carolina to the national semifinals in Tampa, Florida. The Gamecocks were the newcomers in a Final Four where the other three teams -- Notre Dame, UConn and Maryland -- all previously had won at least one national championship.
South Carolina lost 66-65 to Notre Dame in the semifinals. Wilson, who came off the bench that season, led South Carolina with 20 points and 9 rebounds.
For Staley, who went to three Final Fours as a player at Virginia but never won a title, was disappointed but resolute after her first trip as a coach.
"I told our team that I hope they take note of how hard it is to get to this point and how much work it took," Staley said after the loss. "We're not far off. We just have to continue and get these experiences. If we ever get to this point again, we can have different results. I want us to have a certain hunger, a certain bad taste in our mouths from being so close to competing for a national championship that it will fuel us."
April 2, 2017: Mission accomplished
Staley knew a key part of the path to the top was staying present and not jumping ahead. She said her 2015-16 team had to learn that the hard way.
"They had a taste of the Final Four. We had a pretty good team coming back, and they just didn't appreciate the process of getting back there," she said. "We were drunk on our success. And although we were good, I could almost feel the team shortchanging the process."
A No. 1 seed in the 2016 NCAA tournament, South Carolina lost in the Sweet 16 to Syracuse. Mitchell -- her college career over -- was despondent in the locker room afterward.
Staley's college career had ended with a national semifinal loss 25 years earlier. She went on to play professionally in the ABL and WNBA for 10 seasons, win three Olympic gold medals, be the United States flag-bearer in the 2004 Athens Games and was now a high-profile coach. But she knew how empty Mitchell felt.
"The big losses drive me because our players hurt," Staley said. "Really hurt. And that hurts me, deeply."
Staley funneled all that emotion into 2016-17. Wilson was a junior. Top transfer Allisha Gray -- who had played for North Carolina against South Carolina twice previously in the NCAA tournament -- joined the Gamecocks. This time, Staley said, she reminded the players to focus on every step: the regular-season title, the SEC tournament crown and each game of the NCAA tournament, which included a too-close-for-comfort 71-68 second-round win over Arizona State.
The regional was across the country in Stockton, California, with Florida State the Elite Eight opponent. The Gamecocks won 71-64, then beat Stanford 62-53 in the semifinals in Dallas.
Still absorbing the fact they had advanced to their first national championship game, Staley and her staff watched, as shocked as the rest of the women's basketball world, as Mississippi State ended UConn's 111-game winning streak in the second semifinal.
South Carolina, which had already defeated the Bulldogs twice that season, did it again in the final. Staley became the second Black head coach -- Carolyn Peck at Purdue in 1999 was the first -- to win the NCAA women's basketball title.
Boyer said the celebration at the Gamecocks' hotel that night went into the wee hours. At about 3 a.m., after most of the well-wishers had left, two coaches remained.
"I just turned to Dawn and said, 'We finally did it. What do we do now?'" Boyer recalled. "And she said, 'We've got to win another one.'"
Feb. 10, 2020: Gamecocks clear the UConn hurdle
Staley had at least one other big ticket to punch: a victory over UConn. The programs' first meeting was in December 2007, the season before Staley took over at South Carolina, and UConn won by 58 points. In Staley's first seven games against the Huskies, South Carolina lost by an average of 21.3 points. The closest the Gamecocks got was an 11-point loss in 2017.
But Staley was committed to keeping the series going.
"People will shy away from playing them, but for me, it was more magnetic to play them," Staley said of the Huskies. "Because they were the standard, and you're always measuring yourself against them.
"It hurt me when we used to lose by 20 points. You change things up -- one year we tried to take the air out of the ball. You have to learn how to beat them."
The Gamecocks' celebrated freshman class of 2019-20, led by Aliyah Boston and nicknamed "The Freshies," finally cracked the UConn code. South Carolina won 70-52 behind 13 points and 12 rebounds from Boston.
South Carolina then won the SEC tournament and was 32-1 and ranked No. 1 when the NCAA announced the 2020 men's and women's basketball tournaments were canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In early May, Staley had a milestone birthday: 50. Amid so much uncertainty in the world and an extension of her time as Olympic coach with the Tokyo Games delayed to 2021, Staley said she recommitted to her next big goal: getting the Freshies a national championship.
April 3, 2022: After a crushing ending, the Freshies finish the job
After leading the nation in attendance the previous six seasons, the Gamecocks had to adjust to mostly empty arenas in the 2020-21 season due to COVID-19 restrictions. The 2021 NCAA tournament was played in a bubble in San Antonio.
South Carolina, a No. 1 seed, won its second-round game over Oregon State on March 23. Two days later, Gamecocks assistant coach Jolette Law's mother, who had been battling illness, died in her hometown of Florence, South Carolina.
If Law left the bubble, she wouldn't be able to return for the rest of the tournament.
"It was the hardest, most painful time in my life," Law said. "After we won the SEC tournament, I went to the hospital and saw my mother. We talked, listened to gospel music, she kept saying she was tired. But in your mind, you don't think your mom is going to die."
Law asked Staley not to tell the players, hoping not to distract them.
"But when I didn't show up at dinner, they wanted to know why," Law said. "Those kids wrote letters to me, and they made a video for me. I knew my mom would want me to stay and finish this out with them."
The Gamecocks advanced to the national semifinals against No. 1 seed Stanford. Boston's putback at the buzzer bounced out, and South Carolina lost 66-65. Boston doubled over in tears, her reaction so raw even some Stanford players comforted her while their teammates were celebrating.
"Aliyah, all our kids, were just devastated. And I had to go home and bury my mother," Law said. "But God said, 'If you trust me, if you lean on me, I will give you the strength to be able to do what you need to do.'"
Just as the players helped her deal with her personal loss, Law said she and the staff helped them deal with the game loss. Having overcome her own recent grief, Law had the perspective to help Boston deal with her heartbreak.
"She finally started to get over it that summer," Staley said. "But then she had to relive it, because [the video] kept being plastered all over the place. So then we talked about, 'The only thing to do to get past it would be to come back and win the championship.'"
Boston followed Wilson as a superstar post recruit; they had different personalities, but a similar resolve. Boston spent the next summer improving her diet and strength. With a strong 2022 season, she was on her way to being the National Player of the Year, and South Carolina had lost just one game as it headed into the 2022 SEC tournament.
It lost the SEC final 64-62 to Kentucky on a 3-pointer with 4 seconds left. But that disappointment didn't rattle Staley; she said she thought it made the Gamecocks more determined going into the NCAA tournament.
They faced UConn -- and coach Geno Auriemma, 11-0 in NCAA finals -- for the title.
"There was a lot of talk about Geno being undefeated in national championship games. I was like, 'Well, I am, too. I'm 1-0,'" Staley said, laughing.
That became 2-0 in Minneapolis after a 64-49 victory, the second-fewest points UConn had ever scored in an NCAA tournament game. The fewest (47) had come 30 years earlier.
Boston had 11 points, 16 rebounds and two blocks. The image of her from the 2021 semifinal loss had stayed with her, not as failure but as fuel.
"I don't want anyone to use a photo of me crying ever again," Boston said.
March 31, 2023: A full reset after an imperfect ending
Unlike the 2021-22 season, Staley said in 2023 that she didn't think the Gamecocks needed a loss to refocus. The Freshies were now seniors ready to deliver South Carolina's first perfect season. Everything pointed to it. Everyone expected it.
But the Gamecocks lost in the national semifinals when Iowa's Caitlin Clark scored 41 points and led the Hawkeyes to a 77-73 upset.
Afterward, Staley was furious about many things, including the officiating and the fact that as the overall No. 1 seed, South Carolina played a Saturday-Monday regional schedule instead of Friday-Sunday, which meant the Gamecocks got one fewer day of rest before the Final Four than Iowa.
"With every loss, I fine-tooth-comb everything," Staley said, adding she later talked privately to the semifinal officials. "I got stuff off my chest. I said something to all of them. I've mended those things."
Five Gamecocks seniors were picked in the 2023 WNBA draft, led by No. 1 Boston. It was a tough summer for Staley trying to adjust to what she knew would be a very different kind of team.
"I said during that time, 'I don't know how much longer I can do this,'" Staley said.
Law and the rest of the staff helped her move forward.
"One day, we were sitting in her office, and she was just like, 'OK, guys, our season this year is going to be a white, blank canvas. Give me your thoughts,'" Law said. "We just went around the room, and it was almost like a little retreat. We started talking about what we could do with that canvas. It was like breathing life back into her."
That's when Staley accepted she couldn't treat this team the same as any previous group.
"I am a coach that can meet players where they are," Staley said. "I just didn't think I would ever have to go that far. I'm OK with moving 75% to their 25. But they took me to 90. The consistent thing was they worked hard, but they had fun doing it. I thought it was too much fun.
"Then I just realized, 'This is who they are.' You could mess that up thinking about how regimented and disciplined you had to be. We just gave into it. We just start laughing with them sometimes."
April 7, 2024: The perfect ending
The Iowa loss was painful to think about and worse to rewatch. One image stood out: South Carolina guard Raven Johnson dribbling, wide open, behind the 3-point arc, and Clark waving her off, as if to say, "Don't worry, she's not going to shoot it."
South Carolina needed more perimeter shooting, and guard Te-Hina Paopao, a transfer from Oregon, fit the bill. Johnson also worked on her shooting, preparing for what she called her revenge tour.
South Carolina made 163 3-pointers and shot 31% from behind the arc in 2022-23. That jumped to 253 and 39.5% in 2023-24. Johnson, who shot 24.1% (14 of 58) in 2022-23, improved to 35.0% (25 of 80). And Paopao led the way with 87 3-pointers on 46.8% shooting from downtown.
Khadijah Sessions, a Gamecocks player from 2012 to '16 and now one of South Carolina's assistant coaches, said Staley is always open to changing tactics.
"She adjusts with the times," Sessions said. "She understood in this day and age, you have to shoot the 3 more."
The closest South Carolina came to a loss last season was in the SEC tournament semifinals against Tennessee. Down 73-71 in the closing seconds, Staley put the game in the hands of 6-foot-7 center Kamilla Cardoso. Cardoso made the only 3-pointer of her college career for a 74-73 victory.
At the Final Four, the Gamecocks faced Iowa again, this time in the championship game. The demons from 2023 were gone. South Carolina won 87-75, and Staley had her third NCAA title.
South Carolina became the 10th Division I women's basketball team in the NCAA era to have a perfect season. UConn has done it six times; South Carolina, Tennessee, Baylor and Texas once.
"Going from where we were to where we went," Staley said, smiling and shaking her head, "I still can't believe it was that team that went undefeated."
Ten months later, the Gamecocks are in the hunt for the 2025 title. In that 101-60 win over Oklahoma on Jan. 19, Paopao, who returned to South Carolina for a fifth season, was one of the five players to hit double figures. The performance showcased South Carolina's depth, even after losing junior forward Ashlyn Watkins to an ACL injury in January. Seven South Carolina players average between 12.3 and 7.2 points per game.
Law said everyone likely assumes now it's easy to recruit to South Carolina because of all the Gamecocks' success.
"That's not the case at all, because you've got to recruit that much harder," Law said. "Everybody else is saying, 'Why would you want to go there? They're loaded. You're not needed. Come here and be the star.'
"We had to change our approach. We sell our culture: Do you want to be a part of a dynasty, be among other women that are trying to win championships?"
Staley thinks back to South Carolina's first NCAA title in 2017, at a time when UConn had won the previous four in a row and seemed invincible with its triple-digit winning streak.
"We gave everybody else hope then," Staley said. "Because we weren't quite a powerhouse yet. We were still up-and-coming. So it was a win not just for us, but for the overall game."
Now the Gamecocks set the standards they once chased.
"When you're successful, there are direct correlations to your habits," Staley said. "When you've won one championship, you know what contributes to you getting another one. And then another. And you just try to keep it going."
Sources: Mavs C Gafford to miss at least 6 weeks
Dallas Mavericks center Daniel Gafford will sit out at least six weeks because of a Grade 3 sprain of the MCL in his right knee, sources told ESPN on Thursday night.
Gafford suffered the injury during Monday's loss to the Sacramento Kings. The team announced the next day that he would be reevaluated in two weeks.
Gafford took to Instagram on Thursday and wrote in a story: "Y'all wait for me...Be back soon."
The severity of Gafford's injury means the Mavericks will be without their top three big men for weeks after the All-Star break.
Sources said All-Star forward/center Anthony Davis, the headliner of the return package in the Luka Doncic trade, was expected to be sidelined for at least four weeks as the Mavericks proceed with caution in his recovery from the left adductor strain suffered in his Dallas debut.
Dereck Lively II, who had been the Mavericks' starting center, has been sidelined for a month because of a stress fracture in his right ankle and remains in a walking boot. Reserve center Dwight Powell has sat out the past 14 games because of a strained hip.
The Mavericks managed to win back-to-back games over the Golden State Warriors and Miami Heat with 6-foot-7 two-way player Kessler Edwards starting at center.
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