SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) 鈥� Dawn Staley says her conversations with recruits have changed over the past few years, with finances becoming a top point of discussion, especially with players in the transfer portal.
The South Carolina coach said Sunday that in the past, she would emphasize getting a college degree when she spoke to potential transfers and recruits.
鈥淗ow much is it going to cost us? That鈥檚 the conversation. You鈥檝e got to lead with that,鈥� Staley said as the Gamecocks in the Elite Eight of the women鈥檚 鈥淏ecause you don鈥檛 really want to waste your time. You either are going to have enough to pay players, or you don鈥檛. And you move on.鈥�
In the name, likeness and image era, money is the main thing many players in the portal care about.
鈥淏ecause although you can promise a young person this or that, if your budget says otherwise 鈥� I don鈥檛 like to promise anything that isn鈥檛 available to us,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to have to go out and get the money because you could be told no and then your back is against the wall.鈥�
Staley added that it may not be the first question she asks, but she has no choice but to bring it up.
鈥淚 won鈥檛 say I lead with that question, but I get to it fairly quickly,鈥� she said. 鈥淎fter the pleasantries are done, you have to get to the question so you鈥檙e not wasting your time and spinning your wheels on somebody that you can鈥檛 afford.鈥�
The Gamecocks have three transfers on their roster, all of whom are seniors 鈥� Ta’Niya Latson, Madina Okot and Maryam Dauda.
Even with money being the focus, Staley and her staff still believe it’s important that their players graduate. She said all but one of her players has earned a degree and she threatened to put social media pressure on the one who hasn’t.
鈥淲e always have a plan no matter how many credits you come in with, a plan to get you out on time,鈥� Staley said. 鈥淎ny time (the players) come on a visit, you get the transcript and then we send the transcript off to our admissions and all that, and they give us what they need. And that鈥檚 part of the conversation. But all of our kids graduate, all of them but one in my career.鈥�
The Gamecocks’ Elite Eight opponent, TCU, has relied on the transfer portal, adding several high-profile players over the last three years, including current stars Olivia Miles and Marta Suarez.
鈥淲e鈥檝e built our program literally all through the portal, for you guys that haven鈥檛 followed us,鈥� Horned Frogs coach Mark Campbell said. 鈥淚 think we鈥檝e had 18 portal players, six each year. And our program鈥檚 come a long ways. There鈥檚 a lot of negative you hear about the portal. I think there鈥檚 a lot of positive too.鈥�
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