Dawn Staley works to bring former Players home from Israel

Dawn Staley has revealed that three former South Carolina Gamecocks women’s basketball players are currently in Israel as military tensions escalate following strikes involving Iran.

The South Carolina head coach shared on social media that Tiffany Mitchell, Mikiah Herbert Harrigan, and Destiny Littleton are in the region and that efforts are underway to bring them home safely.

“We are working a plan to get home. Let us pray for our loved ones to return home safely asap,” Staley wrote.

Littleton later shared videos from Jerusalem showing emergency sirens in the background as she explained that she had moved to a shelter.

“I’m just trying to stay calm. I really don’t want to even be out here on the streets,” she said.

She later confirmed she was safe but shaken by the situation.

“I am doing all right — shaken up but blessed to be safe. There are current options being looked at.”

Mitchell, a former Gamecocks star, played for South Carolina from 2012 to 2016 and was part of the program’s first Final Four run in 2015 before going on to a long career in the WNBA.

Herbert Harrigan helped South Carolina win its first NCAA championship in 2017 and was later selected sixth overall in the 2020 WNBA Draft.

Littleton played college basketball at Texas, South Carolina and USC between 2017 and 2023.

For now, Staley and the South Carolina program continue to work behind the scenes to ensure the players can leave the region safely.