Beyoncé Sends South Carolina Coach Dawn Staley Flowers After NCAA Title Win: ‘So Proud of You’

Beyoncé Sends South Carolina Coach Dawn Staley Flowers After NCAA Title Win: ‘So Proud of You’

The ‘Cowboy Carter’ singer told Staley her family watched the Gamecocks all season on their way to a third national championship

Dawn Staley. PHOTO: DAWN STALEY/INSTAGRAM

Dawn Staley is getting her flowers — including from the “Queen,” herself.

On Wednesday, the South Carolina women’s basketball coach shared a video on Instagram and X of her opening a card and a bouquet of flowers sent to her by none other than Beyoncé.

Staley, 53, recently led the South Carolina women’s team to its third national championship in the last eight years, capping off a historic undefeated season that saw the Gamecocks decisively take down Caitlin Clark and her Iowa Hawkeyes in the NCAA national championship game earlier this month.

In the process, Staley became the first Black coach to lead a women’s team to an undefeated NCAA Division I championship season.

To celebrate the unprecedented accomplishment, the Renaissance singer sent Staley flowers and a card congratulating her on the unblemished season.

“To Coach Staley and the entire South Carolina Gamecocks, me and my family watched your games and cheered you on through the entire season,” Beyoncé, 42, wrote in the note, which Staley read in her video on social media. “I am so proud of you, all of my love.”

Staley opened the video dancing in her chair to Beyoncé’s new album, Cowboy Carter.

“This deserves a video thank you,” Staley said, speaking to the camera while sitting next to the flowers and a basket of Beyoncé merchandise, including a Cowboy Carter-themed shirt laid out on the table that reads, “Always Been Country.”

“Look at the flowers,” Staley said. “I don’t even think they grow these in South Carolina! Look at the merchandise. If you know, you know!”

Dawn Staley.BRYAN LYNN/ICON SPORTSWIRE VIA GETTY

Staley then read Beyoncé’s card and looked up at the camera, thanking the 32-time Grammy Award winner and placing her hand over her heart several times.

“Bee, thank you! We appreciate you,” Staley said. “We’re honored to wear your gear. It says, ‘Always Been Country.’ Well, guess what, I’ve been in the south for 16 years. I’m a little country too! This is because of you, Bee. Keep inspiring. We love you.”

Jay-Z and By 2019eyonce at a Golden State Warriors vs. Houston Rockets game in Ma.BILL BAPTIST/NBAE VIA GETTY

South Carolina’s undefeated NCAA championship season came one year after taking an undefeated season all the way to the Final Four, before getting eliminated by Clark and her Iowa Hawkeyes. This season, Staley’s Gamecocks managed to outduel Iowa in the NCAA title game, winning 87-75.

“When you’re playing for a championship, you carry a heavy load,” Staley recently told PEOPLE. “This load was probably a little heavier than others because of how it ended last year. And I just wanted to erase the feeling that I had. I didn’t like it.”

Beyoncé and her husband Jay-Z are noted basketball fans, often sitting courtside at NBA games, including the NBA Finals.

The all-time leader in Grammy Award wins is fresh off dropping her latest album, Cowboy Carter – a record hailed for both blending genres and paying homage to Black history that’s always been at the root of country music. Beyoncé’s new album became her eighth record to hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts, according to The Associated Press, becoming the first Black woman to top the country music chart in the process.