‘I love you BG’: USC’s Dawn Staley reacts to WNBA star Brittney Griner’s release

COLUMBIA, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - The University of South Carolina’s women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley reacted on Twitter to U.S. officials’ report that Russia freed WNBA star Brittney Griner in a prisoner swap Thursday morning.

Staley has not been shy on her support for Griner. The coach wore white long-sleeved T-shirts featuring Brittney Griner’s name and image during a game against Stanford in November.

On Thursday, Staley made the following statement on the announcement made by American officals:

“It’s an incredible day – we are so thankful to have our sister and friend coming home! Thanks first to God, who I believe has always had a plan for Brittney; thanks to the work of the Biden Administration – President Biden, Vice President Harris, Secretary Blinken and more – and thanks to everyone who kept her name and story in the public eye during her detainment. My heart is full, but I know that the work is not over for BG; and we all need to continue to throw our arms around her as she processes everything that she has been through in these 293 days. As joyful as we are, I know BG would also want us to keep in our hearts and minds other Americans wrongfully detained overseas and their families and friends. We know what you are going through, and we continue to pray for you as well.”
South Carolina Women’s Basketball Coach Dawn Staley

Griner was released in exchange for the U.S. releasing notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, according to the Associated Press.