Dawn Staley to host HBCU women’s basketball tournament with NIL twist appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley is set to host a new HBCU women’s basketball event that will include a unique name, image and likeness component. A teaser shared Thursday by Ray Rose Media announced the Power Her Player Classic, which is scheduled to take place in November in Columbia, South Carolina.
While the promotional graphic intentionally blurred many of the details, it appears Alabama A&M, Tennessee State and South Carolina will participate in the event. Additional details are expected to be announced at a later date. The event is being promoted as an HBCU women’s basketball tournament centered around the NIL marketplace, creating another opportunity to spotlight HBCU programs while providing student-athletes with name, image and likeness opportunities.
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Staley later confirmed her involvement with the event on Thursday. The tournament continues Staley’s longstanding support of HBCU women’s basketball. Earlier this year, South Carolina faced Southern University in the opening round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.
During media availability, Staley spoke about the respect HBCU programs deserve within the sport.
“I think women’s basketball has been in the position where it is getting better and better on all levels. HBCUs have been given sometimes a raw deal because they’re just HBCUs and they’re not power fours… probably a little less than mid-majors as well,” Staley said. “As you’re seeing, they’re super well-coached. Southern is super well-coached. They really understand what they’re doing. They play a battle-tested schedule. They beat a couple of Power Four teams.”
Staley has also intentionally scheduled HBCU opponents during the regular season. Last season, South Carolina played Coppin State and agreed to a home-and-home series with the MEAC program.
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Her ties to HBCU basketball also extend through her coaching tree. Former South Carolina standout Candace Dupree now serves as the head coach at Tennessee State, while Olivia Gaines was recently hired as the head coach at North Carolina Central after a successful stint at Allen University.
Staley has also publicly expressed her appreciation for HBCUs while discussing future scheduling opportunities.
“When going to the peeps here on this app allows you to converse with great people and get options to complete schedules WINNING … we gotta game y’all. Paperwork is not complete, but we are good for it! I love my HBCUs. Thank you all for reaching out! Love up,” she posted on X in 2024.
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