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NCAA champions UConn and South Carolina head to the White House to celebrate national titles

NCAA champions UConn and South Carolina head to the White House to celebrate national titles

COLUMBIA, S.C. — UConn and South Carolina head to the White House to celebrate their latest NCAA basketball championship titles.

The schools announced Thursday that their visits, during which they will be honored by President Joe Biden, will go ahead.

The UConn men’s basketball team, which won back-to-back NCAA titles for the first time since Florida did so in 2006 and 2007, is making its sixth visit to the White House.

This will be South Carolina’s first visit. Coach Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks did not travel to the White House after winning championships in 2017 and 2022.

South Carolina finished last season with a 38-0 record, becoming the first undefeated NCAA tournament champion since UConn women’s team did so in 2016.

Staley, a three-time Olympic gold medalist and coach of the U.S. women’s basketball team in Tokyo three years ago, recently served as a member of the presidential delegation to the Paris Olympics.

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Dawn Staley speaks with Lisa Leslie before the women’s basketball gold medal game at Bercy Arena during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, in Paris, France. Source: AP/Michael Conroy

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