Dawn Staley is working overtime to make sure some former women's basketball players are back home following the United States-Israel military strikes against Iran.
Staley, who is the head coach for the South Carolina Women's Basketball team, made a plea on social media, praying for the safe return of Tiffany Mitchell, Mikiah Herbert Harrigan, and Destiny Littleton, who are in a “war zone.” Mitchell, Herbert Harrigan, and Littleton are playing in the Women's Basketball Premier League for Israeli teams.
“We are working a plan to get home,” Staley wrote on X. “Let us pray for our loved ones to return home safely asap! Thank you in advance.”
Litteton has been keeping fans updated via social media about her whereabouts in Jerusalem.
“I'm just trying to stay calm,” Littleton said. “I really don't want to even be out here on the streets. I'll keep you updated.”
She later came back on social media after a couple of hours noting it has been “siren free and boom sound free for the last couple of hours.” While Staley has publicly called out to get these former South Carolina players home, a spokesperson for the university told ESPN, “no additional information on the situation beyond what Staley had posted on social media.”
All three athletes played around the same time with only two players times in South Carolina overlapping. Littleton played in South Carolina from 2017 to 2023, Mitchell played from 2012 to 2016, and Herbert Harrigan was on the team from 2016 to 2020. South Carolina won its first national championship team in 2017. Herbert Harrigan and Mitchell would later be drafted to the WNBA with Harrigan last playing for the Phoenix Mercury and the latter the Seattle Storm.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed on Saturday, Feb. 28, U.S. following a U.S. and Israeli military operation, President Donald Trump announced.
