Dawn Staley Says South Carolina Has Still Not Been Invited to the White House
South Carolina coach Dawn Staley told The Associated Press that as of Friday, her team had still not been invited to the White House despite winning the NCAA Championship in April.
"We haven't gotten an invitation yet and that in itself speaks volumes," Staley said in a phone interview with the AP. "We won before those other teams won their championships. I don't know what else has to happen."
After the Gamecocks cut down the nets, Staley said the team would visit the White House because "it's what national champions do." However, in the interview with the AP, she said "some things" that have happened in the months since winning the national title and she hasn't spoken with the team about whether or not they would still go if asked.
"I got bigger fish to fry than to worry about an invitation," Staley said to the AP.
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On Saturday, Andy Shain of The Post and Courier reported that the office of former South Carolina governor and current UN Ambassador Nikki Haley said that the Gamecocks will receive an invitation to the White House.
Donald Trump recently rescinded the Golden State Warriors invitation to visit after Steph Curry said he would vote against the team going. The New England Patriots and Clemson Tigers have already visited the White House and the Pittsburgh Penguins said they plan to visit at some point this season. The Chicago Cubs made a second trip there to see Trump after already visiting Barack Obama.
The North Carolina men's basketball team has already said it will not attend a visit to the White House, but says it is because of a scheduling conflict, not Trump.
