In Photos: Dawn Staley's South Carolina gets back to work in hopes of defending NCAA title during 2024-25 season

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley has earned a well-deserved break after leading the Gamecocks to an unbeaten national championship-winning season. Straight from watching the 2024 Paris Olympics, Staley had her team back in the gym preparing to defend their crown in the upcoming season.

The Gamecocks posted a series of pictures on Instagram on Monday with stars like MiLaysia Fulwiley and Chloe Kitts present.

The Instagram post was captioned:

"Man, it’s good to be home ❤️."

Staley will also lead her team in the Fort Myers Tip-off Tournament during Thanksgiving Weekend where they will play against the Iowa State Cyclones and the Purdue Boilermakers.

Dawn Staley continues to champion women's sports

Women's sports have exploded in the past few years including college basketball, particularly during the Angel Reese versus Caitlin Clark duel in the national championship game.

In the 2024 Paris Olympics, the women's basketball Gold Medal Game between Team USA and France drew 7.8 million viewers on Peacock and NBC.

Dawn Staley, who was in Paris during the Olympics, appeared on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" and reiterated her support for the growth of women's sports.

"I don't think it's a fad," Dawn Staley said. "I think women's sports has been held back for a very long time and now we're at a place where we're in high demand. There's room for everybody but in a way in which we have to do it strategically where it makes sense."

"I'm glad we are in this place, I do think that it's a movement that people are joining in on. I'm on 'Morning Joe,' I watch 'Morning Joe' every morning but I never would have imagined I'd be on the show," she added.

It was not the first time that Staley championed the growth of women's sports. After watching her former player and now Las Vegas Aces star A'ja Wilson play in May, she suggested merging college basketball and the WNBA spaces to further increase the popularity of women's basketball.

"It should happen more often, you just have to get the financial backing," Staley said. "If we want to grow the game, somebody should find the funding because it's beautiful, the turnout is going to be great, the talent, the coaching, the atmosphere will be great and it's what our sport needs."

Staley has always shown her support for different female athletes on various social media platforms and the explosion in popularity of women's sports has come at the right time as her Gamecocks seek to establish a basketball dynasty.