COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley and her national championship Gamecocks celebrated with a jam-packed, downtown parade and rally at the Statehouse a week after completing their undefeated season.

Staley and her players rode some seven blocks to the cheers of a crowd that Columbia Mayor Daniel Rickenmann called the largest ever in the downtown area of the Capital City. And then Staley teased a repeat celebration 12 months from now.

”I hope we can end our (next) season at the same time, in the same place on this beautiful day,” Staley said. “Thank you so much for loving up on us. We truly appreciate it.”

It would be difficult to bet against the Gamecocks, who were an inexperienced, untested group that lost seven seniors off the group who lost to Iowa and Caitlin Clark in the Final Four in 2023.