PHOENIX — Dawn Staley saved the best for last.
For the 2026 national championship game against UCLA, South Carolina’s head coach walked onto the floor at Mortgage Matchup Center wearing a Balenciaga jacket from the brand’s “Basketball Series” — black with the brand name and “01” printed in white letters on the front. Black pants. The same garnet shoes she has worn to every single March Madness game this postseason.
It is the most perfectly constructed outfit of her entire tournament run. A basketball brand, on a basketball court, in a championship game. The “01” on the front — whether intentional or not — reads like a statement of intent.
The Tournament Wardrobe, From Start to Finish
To appreciate the full arc of Staley’s postseason fashion story, you have to trace it from the beginning — because each outfit has told a chapter of this team’s journey.
Second Round vs. USC — Balenciaga shirt and jacket. High fashion, understated power. The opening statement of a tournament run.
Sweet 16 vs. Oklahoma — Gucci jacket paired with a custom Raven Johnson shirt. The personal touch — designer luxury blended with direct tribute to her senior point guard, who has given five years of her life to this program. Fashion as loyalty.
Elite Eight vs. TCU — A white blazer with a bedazzled South Carolina logo, garnet pants. Full Gamecocks. No outside branding. The message: the program is the brand.
Final Four vs. UConn — All black. Black wide leg pants with white side stripes. Black blazer. Black shirt. Matched to her team’s uniforms exactly. The message: we are one unit, and we came to end your perfect season.
National Championship vs. UCLA — Balenciaga Basketball Series jacket. Black pants. Garnet shoes. The circle closes: she started with Balenciaga and she ends with Balenciaga, but this time the jacket literally says “Basketball” on it. On the last day of the college women’s basketball season, she is wearing a jacket that announces exactly where she is.
The Garnet Shoes: The One Constant
Through every outfit change, every designer rotation, every escalation in stakes and sartorial statement, one thing has never changed: the garnet shoes. Every NCAA Tournament game this postseason, same shoes. It is the through-line that ties the entire run together — the visual reminder that underneath all the fashion, all the deliberate coordination, all the personal expression, there is one fixed point of loyalty. Garnet. South Carolina. Always.
What Comes Next Season
The wardrobe story is about to enter a new chapter. South Carolina transitions from Under Armour to Nike as its official uniform supplier on July 1 — a ten-year, $70 million partnership that finally aligns Staley’s institutional affiliation with the personal Nike relationship she has maintained since her WNBA playing days.
But the most distinctive element of the new contract is the provision built around A’ja Wilson. The WNBA’s first four-time MVP — who won a championship under Staley in Columbia in 2017 and has since launched her own Nike signature shoe and clothing line — is written directly into South Carolina’s apparel agreement. The terms state that Nike will provide the women’s basketball program with A’ja Wilson signature sneakers, the A’Two, in USC-specific colorways for on-court use, and will explore Wilson-branded travel and team gear throughout the partnership.
A dynasty so established that its most celebrated alumna’s signature shoe is contractually guaranteed to current players. That is the next chapter of the South Carolina fashion story — and it starts in July.
The Statement That Holds
For now, on April 5, in Phoenix, Dawn Staley is wearing Balenciaga Basketball with “01” on the front and garnet shoes on her feet. She is coaching in her fourth national championship game. She has won three of them.
The outfit is not incidental. It never has been. It is a final, composed, deliberate statement from a coach who has understood all tournament long that everything communicates something — and who has dressed accordingly every single time.
The ball tips at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC. The shoes are garnet. The jacket says Basketball.
She came to win.
