Dawn Staley won’t be able to make it to Carolina Softball Stadium this weekend for South Carolina’s NCAA Regional, but she’s sending the next-best thing: her dog, Champ, who has become semi-famous on Twitter and is very familiar with Gamecocks softball coach Bev Smith.
“She takes care of Champ while I’m out of town,” Staley said. “Everybody’s got to line up behind Bev.”
Staley and Smith, who are neighbors, have developed a very strong relationship since Smith took over the softball program eight years ago. They are frequent neighborhood walking partners and get together for dinner.
“We just bounce ideas off each other,” Staley said.