WATCH: 3x champ Dawn Staley gives warm hugs to new South Carolina members as they arrive on campus

Dawn Staley was seen giving a warm welcome to the new members of the South Carolina women's basketball program. The Gamecocks took to X to share clips of the head coach's interaction with the new entrants on June 9. Coach Staley hugged all of them as they entered the facility to start their stint in Columbia.

Coach Staley led the Gamecocks to an undefeated season in 2023-24 and would love to repeat it. Keeping that in mind, the roster has seen some upheaval, filling the places left by the likes of Kamilla Cardoso. Three new players came into the team and got a warm welcome from the head coach.

Here are the clips of the New South Carolina Gamecocks players greeting head coach Dawn Staley, as shared by the program.

“Just a couple quick things from our newbies Maddy McDaniel, Joyce Edwards, Maryam Dauda,” the post on X read.

McDaniel is a point guard from Upper Marlboro in Maryland who played high school basketball for Bishop McNamara High. Joyce Edwards is a South Carolina native, coming from Camden. She represented Camden High before making a climb to the Gamecocks. Maryam Dauda has transferred from the Arkansas Razorbacks after playing two seasons in Fayetteville.

Three-time national champion coach Staley would be looking to integrate the new faces quickly and prepare them before the season tips off.

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Dawn Staley linked luck and preparation

The recently released ‘Love the Game’ docuseries shed light on South Carolina’s national championship season. It showed Dawn Staley’s message to the team before their March Madness selection. The head coach asked them to focus on themselves and avoid complaining about anything. She also linked luck with how prepared one is for the battle.

“And once we get down to that... It's a really exceptional basketball team, okay? That's who we are. That's who we performed as all year long. We got a little bit [of] luck on our side, especially this past weekend, but luck visits you when you prepared well,” Staley said to the team, as shown in episode 5. (2:00)

The team seemed to get the message as they dominated everyone in the NCAA tournament. The Gamecocks defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes in the championship final, getting Dawn Staley the third national title of her coaching career.