Dawn Staley’s assistant coach, Khadijah Sessions, joined South Carolina in July 2023 as an assistant coach after previously representing the program as a player. Sessions has been part of the Gamecocks for a good part of two years, apart from her playing days. Along the way, she has picked up some things, and she chose to share those insights during a quick 10-question round for the Gamecocks’ Instagram post.
The first question she was asked was about game day rituals when she used to represent South Carolina as a player. She said her routine involved former South Carolina star and current Las Vegas Aces forward A’ja Wilson.
“As a player, of course, I had a game day ritual,” Sessions said. “Well, when I was here, I had a routine with A’ja Wilson, actually. We used to sit down before the games and let Coach Boyer fuss us out before we actually got up and did some work. That was one of them.”
Sessions also added about her pre-game ritual now as a coach.
“And as a coach, outside of just the energy I bring all the time, not really a ritual, I just try to do the same thing every day,” Sessions added. “I listen to my music. I make sure I talk to the same people every time. I jump with Chloe every game she’s running out. So, just different things. I talk to each player.
“I say the same thing to the starting five. Whoever’s sitting beside me on the bench gets the same thing every time. And, you know, Coach Dawn hypes everybody up every game. So I guess you can add all those things up as my ritual.”
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Khadijah Sessions was a key player for South Carolina during the mid-2010s.
Khadijah Sessions played in the starting lineup for three years and was a two-time team captain at the University of South Carolina. She played an important role in helping South Carolina win three SEC regular-season championships (2014, 2015, 2016) and two SEC Tournament titles (2015, 2016). She was a member of South Carolina’s first-ever Final Four team in 2015.
Her most notable highlight from her playing days came in 2016 when she hit a 70-foot buzzer-beater in the third quarter against Kentucky. Sessions was a defensive leader on the South Carolina Gamecocks. She led the program in steals during both her junior and senior seasons.
According to ESPN, as a freshman, she averaged around 6.0 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. As a sophomore, she logged 22.0 minutes per game with averages of 4.5 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists. Moreover, her field goal percentage hovered around 40.1%.
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