Latest news with #Psalm46:50
USA Today
23-03-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Rapper Plies on Dawn Staley, South Carolina women's basketball: 'This place gives me hope'
Rapper Plies on Dawn Staley, South Carolina women's basketball: 'This place gives me hope' Show Caption Hide Caption Are we underestimating Dawn Staley and South Carolina this year? USA Today's Mackenzie Salmon and Meghan Hall talk about how this women's South Carolina team is slightly overlooked as we approach March Madness. Sports Seriously COLUMBIA, S.C. – Standing out in a bubble-gum pink hat and crew neck, glistening with thick silver chains and other bling, rapper Plies sat behind the South Carolina women's basketball bench for the reigning champions' second-round March Madness game against No. 9 Indiana on Sunday. 'I look around this place and it gives me hope,' Plies said of the erupting environment at Colonial Life Arena, the Gamecocks' home court. 'It gives me hope, what we can be as a country. For me, this is therapeutic for me, I need it.' Plies, a longtime supporter of the Gamecocks and head coach Dawn Staley, gifted Staley a chain Thursday before South Carolina opened the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Why Plies gifted Dawn Staley a chain before March Madness The gold chain, which is shaped as the tournament trophy with a basketball on top, is studded with diamonds and includes a Bible verse on the back: ''God Is Within Her. She Will Not Fail!' Psalm 46:50.' It also has 2017, 2022 and 2024 on it, each year South Carolina has won a championship title, as well as Staley's name on the top. 'It was me trying to find my soft spot,' Plies said about his gift. 'I didn't want to make her feel too much like a rapper, but that's something I feel like she openly deserved. 'I just wanted to give her flowers, that was my way of trying to show that.' Plies and Staley have had a close relationship for a while. He's made appearances at other regular-season games, and he supported the Gamecocks at last season's Final Four game in Cleveland. Staley joined him to dance on stage during his concert in Columbia last summer. Plies has a concert scheduled for 7 p.m. Sunday in Greensboro, N.C., nearly 200 miles from Columbia. Olivia Noni is a student in the University of Georgia's Sports Media Certificate program.
USA Today
21-03-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
South Carolina women's basketball super fan Plies gifts Dawn Staley gem-studded chain
South Carolina women's basketball super fan Plies gifts Dawn Staley gem-studded chain Show Caption Hide Caption Are we underestimating Dawn Staley and South Carolina this year? USA Today's Mackenzie Salmon and Meghan Hall talk about how this women's South Carolina team is slightly overlooked as we approach March Madness. Sports Seriously COLUMBIA, S.C. – Rapper Plies gifted South Carolina women's basketball head coach Dawn Staley a gem-studded chain ahead of the Gamecocks' first-round March Madness game Friday. The pendant, shaped as the NCAA Tournament championship trophy, includes the three years South Carolina won national titles – 2017, 2022 and 2024 – and a studded basketball on the top. On the back it reads: 'Dawn Staley / 'God is within her she will not fail! Psalm 46:50.'' Staley posted a photo of the dazzling pendant on her X and Instagram accounts, writing: 'I know you didn't gift me this piece of treasure for anything but love. I so appreciate you for doing your big one but you always have done it big. Thank you for your love, your support & your organic belief in @GamecockWBB. I'll wear it proudly knowing our mission.' Plies responded on X by saying if he had to describe a hero, it would be Staley, and that she inspires him. Plies is a rapper from Fort Myers and a former wide receiver at Miami University in Ohio. He is a known supporter of the South Carolina women's basketball team, attending the 2024 NCAA Final Four in Cleveland as well as regular-season games. He brought Staley on stage during his concert in Columbia last May. In February, Plies picked South Carolina to defeat UConn in Columbia as a celebrity guest picker on College GameDay's debut women's basketball show. Olivia Noni is a student in the University of Georgia's Sports Media Certificate program.
