Dawn Staley’s '6-7' Recruit Joke Has South Carolina Fans Buzzing
One reason why South Carolina Gamecocks head women's basketball coach Dawn Staley is beloved by her players is that she isn't afraid to risk looking foolish for the sake of lighthearted laughs.
There are plenty of examples of this in recent years. One came last December, when former Gamecocks guard MiLaysia Fulwiley posted a TikTok that showed her dancing along to a song for a few seconds before Staley entered in the background and began busting out her own moves.
That wasn't Staley's only dancing display last season. There was a time when LiAngelo Ball's "Tweaker" song swept like a current across the basketball community. Staley joined in on the craze with a January 7 Instagram post from her where she was seen dancing to the hit song before trying to get several of her players to dance with her, some of whom obliged.
One of the Gamecocks players then takes the phone and showcases Staley breaking out her hilarious dance moves. Staley then went around the practice and tried to get various players and staff members to join her in dancing.
Dawn Staley’s “6-7” joke about new recruit Alicia Tournebize turns heads
This willingness to kid around is surely one (of many) reasons why Staley is so good at securing top recruits. Among the most recent of these is Alicia Tournebize, a French prospect who is expected to join the Gamecocks later this season.
Tournebize is extremely tall. And Staley hilariously alluded to her recruit's height when speaking to the media on December 28.
“I think we think we got a gem of a player. She is 6'7". She is 6'7"," Staley said of Tournebize, per an Instagram post from @overtimewbb. When she did this, she mimicked the viral "6-7" hand gesture that involves a person waving their hands up and down, as if they're weighing something with both hands.
This is a reference to the "6-7" craze and viral joke that everybody in the world seems to be doing right now. The gesture comes whenever someone says "6-7", and Staley's incredulous face when saying it suggests she felt like she had no choice but to do it when talking about her 6'7" recruit.
"[Tournebize is] athletic, but she’s 18 years old. She’s definitely gonna have to get in the weight room to see [strength and conditioning coach] Molly [Binetti]," Staley continued.
Props to the legendary Gamecocks coach for joining in on the craze, even if she didn't seem overly eager to.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
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