“I’ve said she’s underpaid since she signed $21 million deal”: Hoops fans reflect on $12 million worth Dawn Staley’s South Carolina dynasty

College basketball fans reflected on the dominance of the South Carolina Gamecocks in women's college basketball since Dawn Staley took over in 2008. On Sunday, Bleacher Report's HighlightHER posted on its Instagram a tweet from I Talk Hoops which listed South Carolina's accomplishments since the 2011-12 season.

These include: Most NCAA Tournament wins since 2000, 12 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, Final Four entries in 2020-21 and 2022-23, championship wins in 2017, 2022 and 2024 and a 167-9 record since the 2019-20 season.

HighlightHER also posted a caption which says:

"Dawn Staley is building a dynasty at South Carolina 🔥"

Fans posted their reactions about Staley, who has a net worth of $12 million per Celebrity Net Worth.

"I've said she's underpaid since she signed her 21 million dollar deal. Ain't no f****** way nearly 40 men's coaches who haven't done s**t for the most part should be paid more than her. She should make no less than 5,000,000 a year. Period," the fan said.

top fan reaction (Image Source: @highlighther/Instagram)

Staley signed a seven-year contract extension in 2021 which is actually worth $22.4 million.

Other fans were in awe of Dawn Staley's handiwork in the past seasons, resulting in multiple national titles and consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.

"Coach Dawn has built a Dynasty at South Carolina and continues to grow it each season," one fan said.

"2019-2020 finished with one loss, SEC Championship and AP #1. (Covid season)" one fan pointed out.

More fans heaped praise on Coach Staley.

"Love the work she's doing there!! Shout out to all the past, present & future Gamecocks hoopers!!" said another.

"In Dawn we trust," another fan added.

Other fan reactions (Image Source: @highlighther/Instagram)

Other social media followers were thinking of the future and believed that Dawn Staley would win back-to-back national titles and become the U.S. women's basketball team coach for the 2028 LA Olympics.

"Repeat Season," another fan said.

fan reaction No. 3 (Image Source: @highlighther/Instagram)

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Dawn Staley's South Carolina ranks second in AP Top 25 Week 8 Poll

South Carolina kept its No. 2 spot in Week 8 of the AP Women's Basketball Top 25 Poll on Monday. The Dawn Staley-coached squad had one first-place vote for 764 points to rank second behind UCLA, which had 30 first-place votes and 798 in total.

The Gamecocks are coming off dominant wins over South Florida (78-62) and Charleston Southern (82-46) the previous week.

Notre Dame retained its place at No. 3 with 727 points. The Fighting Irish has one first-place vote from the panel, AP reported.

USC climbed three spots to No. 4 with 688 points while Texas moved up one notch with 641 points. LSU and UConn fell to sixth and seventh with 641 and 636 points, respectively.

Maryland (602), Oklahoma (535) and Ohio State (505) rounded out the Top 10.

The rest of the Top 25 include TCU (478), Kansas State (457), Georgia Tech (382), Duke (368), Tennessee (323), Kentucky (322), North Carolina (288), West Virginia (224), Michigan State (203), Alabama (165), California (153), North Carolina State (147), Michigan (122), Iowa (114) and Ole Miss (64).

Bubbling under are Nebraska, Vanderbilt, Utah, Illinois and Oklahoma State.

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What can you say about Dawn Staley's continued success in South Carolina? Let us know your insights in the comments section.