COLUMBIA — South Carolina women’s basketball fans, players, and coach Dawn Staley are wearing pink on Feb. 5 in honor of the 2025-26 Play4Kay game.
The No. 3 Gamecocks (22-2, 8-1 SEC) are hosting Mississippi State in Colonial Life Arena and each year, teams across different conferences in women’s basketball honor the late coach Kay Yow.
South Carolina wore pink shirts during warmups, which Staley and her assistants are also wearing, and fans were given pink shirts to wear when arriving.
Kay Yow Cancer Fund is a non-profit organization and Play4Kay games “unite coaches, players, officials, and fans in the fight against all cancers affecting women,” according to the website.
Yow was the coach of the NC State Wolfpack women’s basketball team from 1975-2009 where she won five ACC championships and finished 737–344 overall. She died Jan. 24, 2009, from breast cancer.
Why is Dawn Staley wearing all pink?
Dawn Staley is wearing all pink because it’s South Carolina’s Play4Kay game, which honors the late coach Kay Vow, who died in 2009 due to breast cancer after a legendary career coaching NC State women’s basketball.
Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at LKesin@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X@Lulukesin and Bluesky@bylulukesin.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Why Dawn Staley, South Carolina coaches are wearing pink tonight
