South Carolina Coach Dawn Staley Says Women’s Basketball Team Won’t Visit White House

Several notable athletes have refused to visit the White House following their team’s national championship victories, but now a full team has announced it won’t make the trip to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

South Carolina women’s basketball white house visit news

South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley revealed in a statement Thursday night that the female Gamecocks have declined the invitation to D.C. to celebrate their NCAA Tournament victory on Friday.

“We did hear from the White House about attending tomorrow’s event, but we will not be able to attend,” Staley’s statement read. “As I’ve been saying since our practices for this season started, all of our focus is on the season ahead. The only invitation we are thinking about is to the 2018 NCAA Tournament.”

South Carolina defeated in-state rival Clemson 66-36 on Thursday night to jump to 3-0 this season.

Staley, a 47-year-old Hall of Famer, had previously expressed an interest in making the visit, though she added that she would leave the decision to attend up to her players. She led the Gamecocks to the national title in April.

The night Staley’s team beat Mississippi State for the squad’s first national championship, the former Virginia basketball star said the Gamecocks would visit the White House because “it’s what it stands for. It’s what national champions do.” However, South Carolina hadn’t yet officially received a formal invitation and Staley said she felt slighted because of this.

However, Staley then said in September that she was reconsidering due to things that “transpired over the last few months. I haven’t talked to anyone about it. I got bigger fish to fry than worry about an invitation.”

Whether that was an implicit rebuke of President Donald Trump and his administration’s policies, or simply a decision to ensure her team concentrates on securing more victories (or both) remains unknown.

Other teams that have been invited by Trump to visit the White House after their national championship victories include the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, the NBA champion Golden State Warriors, the NHL champion Pittsburgh Penguins and the NCAA men’s basketball champion North Carolina Tar Heels.

Nevertheless, some players on those teams — like Stephen Curry and Patriots players LeGarrette Blount, Chris Long, Alan Branch, Dont’a Hightower, Martellus Bennett and Devin McCourty — refused to make the visit due to their opposition to Trump. Tom Brady also missed this year’s White House visit, though he cited family-related reasons.

DALLAS, TX – APRIL 02: A’ja Wilson #22 and head coach Dawn Staley of the South Carolina Gamecocks hold the NCAA trophy and celebrates with their team after winning the championship game against the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs of the 2017 NCAA Women’s Final Four at American Airlines Center on April 2, 2017 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)