The South Carolina women’s basketball team has perhaps never been more popular.
Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley announced on X that the team had sold more 10,100 season tickets for the 2023-24 campaign, surpassing last year’s total.
“Let’s gooo!” Staley wrote on X.
As of Friday morning, Staley said, South Carolina had sold 10,144 season tickets, already up from last year’s number of 10,084.
The Gamecocks play Rutgers in an exhibition game at home Oct. 22, before challenging Notre Dame in a neutral site game in Paris on Nov. 6. They then host Maryland on Nov. 12.
South Carolina won a program record 36 games last season and entered the Final Four without having suffered a loss. They fell to Iowa, 77-73, in the NCAA semifinal.
The team enters the season with high expectations, even without star players Aliyah Boston and Zia Cook, who left for the WNBA.
“We can’t erase what took place for the last four years,” Staley told reporters. “But we can start anew and give this team its own identity. … They’re in a good place.”
Point guard Raven Johnson is expected to step into a leadership role after averaging 18.6 minutes per game as a backup last season.
“It’s got to be a team effort,” Johnson said. “If I’m buying in, everybody’s got to buy in.”