In the women’s basketball realm, when the South Carolina Gamecocks traveled to Philadelphia to take on the Temple Owls, much of the attention was on Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley’s return to her native north Philly.
It included a celebration at the Hank Gathers Recreation Center and a portion of West Diamond Street being named Dawn Staley Lane.
But there was another story that developed involving a W notable in the Indiana Fever’s Candice Dupree as her jersey was raised to the rafters of the Liacouras Center. Dupree played for Temple from 2002-06 and is a top seven all-time scorer and rebounder in Owls history.
.@TUOWLS_WBB Great Candice Dupree get her number retired at Halftime #Temple #SouthCarolina #SCvsTEM pic.twitter.com/IMsSGcTHg6
— David Malandra Jr (@David_Malandra) December 22, 2017
It had been such a long time since I played here that I wasn’t sure that it would ever happen. But earlier in the year, I had started hearing that they were working towards it and when I finally got the call, I was just so happy.
–Candice Dupree
Dupree, who won a championship in 2014 with the Phoenix Mercury saw her jersey raised at halftime. Staley notably coached Dupree while at Temple and kept her team on the court instead of gathering them back to the locker room during the halftime proceedings.
It was important for my players to be out on the court to see it too, because maybe someday they’ll be in the same situation and I want them to see what it is like.
–Dawn Staley
ICYMI: We retired the jersey of all-time great Candice Dupree on Thursday night! ? pic.twitter.com/qeQWhBsoTn
— Temple WBB (@TUOWLS_WBB) December 23, 2017
Two Temple basketball legends, Candice Dupree & Dawn Staley, were reunited last night. pic.twitter.com/eqsQNJK47B
— Temple University (@TempleUniv) December 22, 2017
By: Akiem Bailum (@AkiemBailum on Twitter, Instagram)
