‘Speaks Volumes.’ No White House Invite for Champion Women’s Basketball Team

Dawn Staley and her champion South Carolina Gamecocks are still waiting for their invite to the White House. “We haven’t gotten an invitation yet and that in itself speaks volumes,” the women’s basketball coach told The Associated Press in a phone interview on Friday night. “We won before those other teams won their championships. I don’t know what else has to happen.” Staley said she isn’t even sure her team, which won the NCAA women’s basketball title in April, would go now if invited. The night her squad won the school’s first national championship, the Hall of Famer said the team would go to the White House because “it’s what it stands for. It’s what national champions do.” That was before “some things,” as Staley put it Friday night, “transpired over the last few months. I haven’t talked to anyone about it. I got bigger fish to fry than worry about an invitation.” The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Every previous NCAA women’s basketball champion since 1983 has been invited to the White House, spanning five different presidents. Trips to the White House by sports teams this year are no longer a given. The Golden State Warriors had an invite, but it was later rescinded by the White House when President Donald Trump tweeted that star guard Stephen Curry was “hesitating” in deciding whether to make the tr...
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