Biden honors NCAA basketball champs South Carolina and celebrates surging interest in women’s sports
WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden cheered NCAA basketball champions South Carolina and coach Dawn Staley for helping to spark growing interest in women’s sports during a celebration at the White House Tuesday in honor of their historic title run.
South Carolina went 38-0 on the way to the latest women’s title. It was head coach Dawn Staley’s third championship with the Gamecocks since 2017.
South Carolina’s final game against Iowa drew more viewers than this year’s men’s championship, with an average of 18.7 million viewers watching on ABC and ESPN, with a peak of 24 million viewers.
“I think it’s fair to say that everybody, everybody watches women’s sports now,” Biden said during the celebration. “When new fans watch for the first time, when young girls see their idols, they see the power of your example.”
Biden will honor the Connecticut men’s basketball team later Tuesday, which UConn coach Dan Hurley’s men’s team won 37-3. second consecutive title.
South Carolina’s impeccable year came even after Staley lost all five starters from her 2023 team, which was defeated in the Final Four. The Gamecocks were dominant throughout their historic season, leading the nation in scoring defense, margin of victory and blocked shots.
For UConn, it was the school’s sixth men’s national title, joining the 2006-07 Florida Gators and the 1991-92 Duke Blue Devils as only the third teams to repeat since John Wooden’s UCLA dynasty of the 1960s and 1970s.
It was the first White House visit for South Carolina. Staley and the Gamecocks did not visit the White House after championships in 2017 and 2022. Vice President Kamala Harris visited the team earlier this year when she was in Columbia, South Carolina.
Staley, a three-time Olympic champion and coach of the U.S. women’s basketball team in Tokyo three years ago, was recently a member of the presidential delegation to the Olympic Games in Paris.
Several prominent current and former South Carolina politicians attended Tuesday’s ceremony for the Gamecocks, including Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, Democratic Rep. James Clyburn and former Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin, who is now a senior adviser to the president.
Biden joked that South Carolina officeholders would face stiff competition if the popular Staley ventured into politics.
“Anyone who holds public office in South Carolina, I hope she stays in coaching and doesn’t run for office,” Biden said of Staley.