"It can be so overwhelming": Dawn Staley gets sentimental while talking about cancer post exhibition win at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Dawn Staley expressed her admiration for St. Jude’s Children's Research Hospital after the inaugural Hoops for St. Jude’s exhibition game. South Carolina beat the Memphis Tigers 106-63 on Tuesday night.

While the game depicted the chemistry within the Gamecocks roster, Staley reflected on the significance of St. Jude’s and the importance of the charity exhibition.

"The only time you visit a place in which gives hope, because what St. Jude's Research Hospital does, it gives hope to the patients that they are caring for and the entire family," Staley said in the post-game conference.

"Like when you get a cancer diagnosis, it shakes the family. It is not just the person; it is everybody that has to care for somebody that has to deal with the C word. It's frightening and you just want somewhere where you can go, where you just have hope because your first kneejerk reaction is—I'm going to die.

"And then being at St. Jude's todayand talking to research doctors and talking to patients and talking to everyone that has their experience with St. Jude's. For us on the outside of it, you have to intentionally turn it on and you have to intentionally turn it off because it can be so overwhelming, but it surely gives you perspective."

Ever since the exhibition against Memphis was announced in September, Dawn Staley has been encouraging fans to showcase their support and to donate to the research center.

Dawn Staley has long ties with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. She has been contributing to the organization’s endeavours for years and has also organized a team trip to the center with her Gamecocks.

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Dawn Staley's crew was supposed to play Memphis in the previous season

Memphis and South Carolina were initially slated to play last season, in the second leg of a nonconference series that began on Dec. 2022. However, the two programs postponed the matchup, which eventually ended up becoming a potential off-season ritual in college basketball.

The Tuesday night game at FedEx Forum was possible through the NCAA's Exhibition Exception rule that enables two Division I teams to play when raising money for a cause.

All the earnings from the night were aligned to help the hospital and support its lifesaving ventures, where no patient is billed for travel, housing, food and treatment.