Staley: Working to bring home ex-players in Israel
Michael VoepelFeb 28, 2026, 10:43 PM ET Close Michael Voepel is a senior writer who covers the WNBA, women’s college basketball and other college sports. Voepel began covering women’s basketball in 1984, and has been with ESPN since 1996. Multiple Authors Three former South Carolina women’s basketball players have been competing in Israel, Gamecocks coach…
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Michael Voepel
Multiple Authors
Three former South Carolina women’s basketball players have been competing in Israel, Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley said on social media Saturday, and an effort is being made to get them home in the wake of the United States-Israel military strikes against Iran.
Staley wrote that Tiffany Mitchell, Mikiah Herbert Harrigan and Destiny Littleton were “in a war zone in Israel.”
“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.”
A spokeswoman of South Carolina athletics told ESPN on Saturday night that she had no additional information on the situation beyond what Staley had posted on social media.
Littleton made several videos from Jerusalem that she posted on X, saying she was safe, had packed up her belongings and was heading to the home of a teammate who had a shelter. Sirens were going off in the background of some of her videos.
“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.”
Later, Little posted that she was in a safe place and attempting to get some sleep.
“We have been siren free and boom sound free for the last couple of hours. I’m praying it continues this way. Prayers for safety for everyone impacted,” she wrote on X.
Littleton played at Texas, South Carolina and Southern Cal in her college career from 2017-2023.
Mitchell played for the Gamecocks from 2012-2016 and was a starter on the program’s first Final Four team in 2015. She was the ninth pick in the 2016 WNBA draft and has spent 10 seasons in the league, finishing last year with the Seattle Storm.
Herbert Harrigan was a freshman on South Carolina’s first national championship team in 2017 and finished her college career in 2020. She was the No. 6 pick in the WNBA draft that year. She has played two full seasons in the WNBA, most recently with the Phoenix Mercury in 2024.
