The 104-38 demolition No. 1 South Carolina delivered to Morgan State on Wednesday was an event tailor-made to invite a degree of cynicism to diehard and casual fans alike.
What is one of modern college basketball's most powerful programs doing, you may ask, inviting a 3-5 MEAC school to its home gym seemingly to serve as cannon fodder ahead of a better game against Utah this Sunday afternoon?
Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley views the situation differently. After South Carolina's win over the Bears, Staley outlined how she viewed the arrangement as a form of paying it forward.
"The reason we continue to play them is because when I was at Temple, we couldn't get a top team to play us besides Rutgers and Tennessee. Those were the only two (teams) that would give us an opportunity because it would hurt them more than it hurt us," Staley said.
"I'll always remember what coach Vivian Stringer and coach Pat Summitt did for us in giving us an opportunity to measure ourselves against some of the best."
.@dawnstaley on why she continues to schedule MEAC teams:
— Matt Dowell (@MattDowellTV) December 7, 2023
"When I was at Temple, we couldn't get a top team to play us besides Rutgers and Tennessee... I'll always remember what Coach Vivian Stringer and Coach Pat Summitt did for us"@GamecockWBB @wachfox pic.twitter.com/i3V1o72wyN
Staley coached Temple from 2001-08, taking the Owls to six NCAA tournaments in eight seasons. On Jan. 19, 2006, No. 21 Temple visited No. 9 Rutgers and won 48-47; the Owls had nearly beaten the No. 1 Volunteers the season prior.
The lesson: the next time you want to discard your power-conference team's buy game against a lesser foe out of hand, consider it may help mold the next Dawn Staley.
