When Dawn Staley heaped praise on $57.24 billion worth company for supporting women’s sports: “They are innovative, they are cutting edge”

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley is supportive of individuals, companies and brands that have stepped up to amplify women's sports. She herself has been a powerful voice for the growth and visibility of the women's game.

Staley sat down with Tina Emerson, a University of South Carolina alum and the chief marketing officer of Maynard Nexsen, on the podcast "Taking the Pulse" in July of last year.

During the interview, Staley was asked about her role as a national spokesperson for Aflac—an insurance company with a market cap of $57.24 billion per Forbes—which the coach has been associated with since March 2023.

"If you really want to get into women's basketball, I would say Aflac has the blueprint on how to do it," Staley said (12:53). "I think they are innovative — they are cutting-edge when it comes to making a splash in women's basketball."

Dawn Staley and legendary Duke coach Michael Krzyzewski, aka Coach K, joined Aflac as part of the company's G.O.A.T.s for Aflac's 2023 March Madness campaign. The two accomplished basketball figures have also appeared in a few Aflac commercials.

She also pointed out that the company goes beyond simply featuring them in its advertisements.

"So we did the commercials, and now they're like, 'What is it that you want to do? What kind of impact do you want to have in our game? How can we help you?'" Dawn Staley said. "There aren't a lot of companies out there saying, 'How can we actually help you grow the game?'"

Dawn Staley emphasizes importance of every game, not just against UConn

The No. 4 South Carolina Gamecocks will host the No. 7 UConn Huskies on Sunday. Both teams are loaded with top talent and have 23 wins each this season.

They both suffered a rare defeat recently. UConn lost to No. 15 Tennessee last week, while South Carolina fell to No. 3 Texas on Sunday.

Dawn Staley's team bounced back with a 101-63 win over Florida on Thursday. In the postgame press conference, she was honest about the need for South Carolina to be ready for every opponent.

"I think this team stays in the moment," she said. "I know they know we play UConn. You can’t get around it. We did not skip over this game, but you know a lot of people have just moved on to UConn. This league is unforgiving."

South Carolina and UConn have been playing each other almost every year since 2015. Although Geno Auriemma's team is leading the series 9-5, the Gamecocks have won the last four meetings.