Dawn Staley Surprised by Rare Gesture From Top Recruit
After 25 years on the sidelines, Dawn Staley thought she had seen everything that comes with college basketball recruiting. This week proved her wrong.
From her early days at Temple to building South Carolina into a powerhouse, Staley has navigated the sport’s evolution—whether recruiting under-the-radar players or five-star stars, or adjusting to NIL and revenue sharing. But one small act left her stunned.
“Good am!” Staley wrote on social media. “In my 25 years of coaching, this is a first. I just received a handwritten thank you note from a top prospect…thanking us for her visit and recruitment over the years and good luck on our season. Extraordinary human being!”
She ended the message with a praying hands emoji and added: “(Praying) she’s a Gamecock for all of our sake!”
A Likely Candidate Emerges
NCAA rules prevent Staley from naming the recruit, but the response on social media made the mystery easy to solve. McKenna Woliczko, a five-star prospect ranked No. 6 nationally in the 2026 class by Rivals and ESPN, and her father both retweeted Staley’s post.
Woliczko took her official visit to South Carolina at the end of June, where the Gamecocks rolled out the red carpet. Staley hosted a block party at her home, the family watched a WNBA game on the video board at Williams-Brice Stadium, and even football coach Shane Beamer joined in—breaking down film of Woliczko’s younger brother.
Recruitment Heating Up
The 6-foot forward isn’t finished with her visits just yet. She is scheduled to visit Iowa over Labor Day weekend and has also made stops at Ohio State. Southern Cal rounds out her list of finalists. Woliczko plans to announce her decision by mid-September.
For now, Staley and South Carolina fans can only hope that the extraordinary thank-you note signals something bigger.
