South Carolina women's basketball team skips national anthem at NCAA Final Four

The South Carolina Gamecocks were not on the court for the national anthem before their tip-off against the Louisville Cardinals at Friday night’s Final Four during the NCAA tournament.

Coach Dawn Staley's team has stayed in the locker room during the anthem or protested in some way since the 2020-21 college basketball season. Staley said at the time that players were sitting during the anthem to "…bring awareness to racial injustice in our country."

She added that "If opposing teams choose to play the anthem during the time we’re in the locker room, then we choose to stay in the locker room."

"I love our country, too. I don’t like what our country has come to, or what our country has been, but I’d like to think that there are people in our country that’s going to lead us more in a unified way than a divisive way, and I’m here for that."

According to Insider, players and coaches on the Cardinals stood side-by-side with their arms locked together while some team members placed their hands on their hearts and sang along with the anthem.

Some of the Cardinals players could be seen wearing Adidas-branded shirts that said on the back: "No person in the United States, shall on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance."

Before the national championship game, South Carolina and UConn were both on the court for the National Anthem before South Carolina defeated UConn for their second-ever national title.