When $12 million Dawn Staley discussed her players' excitement for NIL: “They want to know, 'how can South Carolina differentiate from others'"

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley guided the Gamecocks to another Southeastern Conference Tournament championship when her team beat the Texas Longhorns 64-45 in the final last week. The Gamecocks, whose players stepped up in a big way to end the season, were designated No. 1 seeds for the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

Things were not always so smooth in terms of recruitment and during a 2024 segment of "Unbothered" with host Jemelle Hill, the charismatic Staley revealed how NIL affected her recruitment visits with prospects once it became mainstream in college sports (33:00).

"For our players, honestly, NIL went into effect properly last year in July 2021," Dawn Staley said. "When we recruited, some of the players that are on our team now, the rising seniors, they were talking about NIL in their home visits. When I went to their home we would talk, they would be like, 'What about NIL?' They wanna know like, 'How much? How can South Carolina differentiate from whatever other school?'"

The $12 million worth Staley (as per Celebrity Net Worth) further revealed how the players reacted to the ramping up of NIL deals due to certain players' popularity and how it affected the culture of the team.

"I would give them a little spiel but at the same time I'm like, 'What if you don't produce? Do you still want that money? You're averaging like 1.2 points, no rebounds, like 50% from the free throw line, like, what if you don't produce?' They don't care about that part but it's a real conversation," Staley said.

"I talked to our players like this was probably the hardest year, it wasn't hard. It was just different. Because I'm having our end-of-year meetings with our players and it's less about basketball and it's more about popularity. Like, 'I feel like I can do more. I can be more popular if you allow me to do certain things.' And I pull out the stat sheet and I'm like, 'Do it.'"

NIL hasn't slowed down Dawn Staley recruitment

There has been intense debate about the rate at which Dawn Staley has recruited McDonald's All-American prospects to her dominant South Carolina Gamecocks team. After being beaten by the Gamecocks in January, LSU coach Kim Mulkey questioned the number of such prospects in Staley's team. In February, Kentucky Wildcats coach Kenny Brooks also complained about how well-stacked the Gamecocks were with McDonald's All-Americans.

South Carolina has 10 McDonald's All-Americans in its current roster and last year's Gatorade Player of the Year, Joyce Edwards, leads the team in points scoring while next year's team looks stacked already after securing the commitment of another McDonalds All-American and the No. 4 ranked recruit in the country, Agot Makeer, according to ESPN.

As Dawn Staley seeks a hattrick of national titles, the new NIL era has not slowed down her recruitment for the Gamecocks one bit.