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During the offseason, Dawn Staley seemingly joined the Jet Set, flying off to one exotic locale after another and seemingly popping up on TV every week. Call it the Summer of Dawn. 

Staley spent enough time in Europe that she probably owes taxes. As a member of the United States Presidential Delegation, she was in Paris for two weeks in late July and early August for the Olympics. During the Olympics, Staley attended a variety of events and made TV appearances to talk about basketball.

Staley also attended fashion shows in Milan and Paris, a Champions League match in Paris, and the Nike Women’s Sports Summit. 

Stateside, Staley was in New York to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, in Philadelphia to ring the Liberty Bell before a 76ers game, made an appearance at Mitchell and Ness, attended a USA Basketball celebration in Las Vegas, was honored (along with the Gamecocks) at the ESPYs in Los Angeles and the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

There were also recruiting trips to Chicago and California and places in between.

It all ended with a trip to Washington D.C. to be honored at the White House for winning the 2024 national championship.

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Just typing it all out is exhausting, but Staley said it was a much-needed chance to recharge after a stressful season.

“It seemed exhausting, but it wasn’t,” she said. “When you’re enjoying something it’s just not tiring. I just kind of decompressed. That’s my way of decompressing. I experienced a lot in this off-season. Enjoyed it. I compartmentalized and enjoyed myself and then I’m back. We’re back into the swing of things. This really is my happy place, is to be in practice and getting our team to where it needs to be, to where we can continue to make our FAMs happy and proud.”

Her experience enjoying the opportunities her success has afforded her was one of the reasons Staley was willing to interrupt practice for the team to visit the White House in September.

“I think the fruits of their labor, just appreciating it, understanding it. This is what happens when you do something a little bit different than everybody else in basketball,” Staley said. “They enjoyed it, though, they enjoyed it. The President was great. He had great questions for them, asked them where they were from. For them to actually shake hands with a sitting president, I don’t get starstruck too much. Presidents? I’m starstruck by our President. It was cool to to not only meet him again, but in an intimate way. I actually went to the Olympics with his with his wife, Dr Biden, and he actually spoke about that as well. And privately he spoke about that. So cool. The recall, the information that they have, and then they make you feel like you’re the only person in the world that matters in that moment. I know I didn’t, but he made me feel that way. That was cool.”

Staley and the Gamecocks will stay close to Columbia for about six weeks before another big trip awaits. They open the season in Las Vegas. At least it’s a little closer than Paris was last season.

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