We are used to seeing South Carolina Women's Basketball Head Coach Dawn Staley on the sideline leading her team to victory, but tomorrow, she will be taking on a new role. WNBA Tip-Off is CBS's new WNBA pregame show. It will be hosted by reporter Sarah Kustok, with analysis by former player Renee Montgomery and three-time national champion Dawn Staley.
CBS is launching the show this Saturday, June 7, at 7:30 p.m. EST, right before the first-ever WNBA regular-season game aired on the network. The game takes place in Chicago, where the Sky will face off against the Indiana Fever. Not only should the game be a great one, but now we will also get to hear Staley's thoughts on a couple of her former players pregame. Fever forward Aliyah Boston was a leader on Staley's 2022 National Championship-winning team. She then went on to win the 2023 WNBA Rookie of the Year.
Aliyah will not be the only former Gamecock Staley will be analyzing. Kamilla Cardoso, a member of the 2024 National Championship-winning team, is a standout player for the Chicago Sky. It will be intriguing to hear how Staley has seen Boston and Cardoso's games develop as they get further in their professional careers. It might be even more interesting to hear how she thinks their battle in the paint will turn out.
Dawn Staley is ready to conquer a new realm of women's basketball
That is the first of four WNBA Tip-Off shows lined up. The second being July 12, when the Golden State Valkyries take on the Las Vegas Aces. In which Stale will see more of her Gamecock alums in A'ja Wilson and Tiffany Mitchell on the Aces. The third show is on August 9 before another Fever-Sky match-up. The fourth and final show takes place on August 16 when the New York Liberty face the Minnesota Lynx.
CBS is launching "WNBA Tip Off", a pregame show featuring Renee Montgomery and Dawn Staley as analysts, along with Sarah Kustok as host. pic.twitter.com/yQoCKxqEPY
— Meghan L. Hall (@ItsMeghanLHall) June 4, 2025
For what it's worth, Staley has a pretty good history when it comes to pre-game shows. Last NCAA Football season, she appeared as a guest on ESPN's "College Gameday," where she went 6-3 with her game-winner picks.
Dawn Staley had a 6-3 record on her College Gameday picks yesterday as the celebrity guest picker
— C'am💫 (@GamecocksPlsWin) September 15, 2024
That is the most correct picks so far this year by the celebrity guest picker!
Coach Staley stays winning at everything 🐔🤙 pic.twitter.com/H3pxYgfNXr
In all seriousness, we can all appreciate how much Dawn Staley has done for the sport of women's basketball. Her gracing us with her pregame analysis is just another example of that.