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South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley said Saturday that the university is working to bring back three former basketball players, including WNBA veteran Tiffany Mitchell, from Israel as joint missile strikes with the United States against Iran continue.
Staley shared a post on
Head coach Dawn Staley of the South Carolina Gamecocks watches their game against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina on January 25, 2026. (Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)
“Please pray for our @GamecockWBB @TiffMitch25 @2121Mikiah @dstnylttltn24 who are in a war zone in Israel,” his message read.
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“We are making a plan to get home. Praying that our loved ones return home safely as soon as possible! Thank you in advance.”
Neither the WNBA nor the University of South Carolina immediately responded to PK Press Club Digital’s request for comment.
Littleton, who played for the South Carolina Gamecocks from 2019-2022, posted a series of video updates on social media declaring that she was “safe.”
South Carolina guard Destiny Littleton (11) plays during a women’s college basketball game between the Kentucky Wildcats and the South Carolina Gamecocks at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina on January 9, 2022. (John Byrum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
“I’m about to head to the shelter now,” she said in a video. “Unfortunate, but this is the current situation.”
Mitchell shared Staley’s post on X with the praying hands emoji, but did not provide additional comment. Herbert Harrigan did the same.
Littleton currently plays for Hapoel Lev Jerusalem, a professional women’s basketball team in the Israeli Women’s Basketball Premier League. According to the team’s Facebook, she signed with the team in November. She previously played for the United States basketball team, winning a gold medal at the 2017 FIBA 3×3 U18 World Cup.
Tiffany Mitchell (25) of the Seattle Storm moves the ball down the field against the Dallas Wings at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas on August 22, 2025. (Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)
Mitchell signed with the Storm in July after starting the 2025 season with the Las Vegas Aces. She played several offseasons overseas, including a stint with the Russian Women’s Basketball Premier League. She last played with Hapoel Lev Jerusalem during the 2024-2025 season and even won the Israeli women’s basketball championship in the Premier League in 2019. It was not immediately clear if she was currently playing for the team. She announced on her Instagram in November that she had signed with the Beijing Great Wall of the Chinese Women’s Basketball Association.
Herbert Harrigan was a first-round WNBA draft pick, being selected sixth overall in the 2020 WNBA Draft. She has had several stints in the league, most recently for the Mercury in 2024. She was then traded to the Dallas Wings before being waived last year. She currently plays in the Israeli Women’s Basketball Premier League for Elitzur Ramla.
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Mikiah Herbert Harrigan (21) of the Phoenix Mercury watches the Dallas Wings at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas on July 3, 2024. (Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
The United States joined Israel in launching pre-emptive strikes against Iran on Saturday morning. In video remarks posted to Truth Social, Trump encouraged the Iranian people take over their government once the United States and Israel complete their “major combat operations” in Iran.
Iran has launched retaliatory missile strikes against US facilities in several countries. Jennifer Griffin of PK Press Club reported that about 40 missiles landed in Israel. Additionally, Iran appears to have struck the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, but no casualties have been reported. Iran has also launched missiles at Saudi Arabia and Jordan, where the United States has squadrons of advanced fighter jets, Griffin added.
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