PARIS — When Lea Miller-Tooley, the president of Complete Sports Management, reached out to South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley about playing a game in France, the answer was an almost immediate yes.

More than two years after that call, the No. 4 Gamecocks and No. 10 Notre Dame will face off in the 2023-24 season opener Monday (1 p.m. ET, ESPN) for the first regular-season NCAA basketball game ever played on Parisian soil. Complete Sports Management annually hosts the Bahamas Bowl and both men's and women's Battle 4 Atlantis tournaments in the Bahamas, but Miller-Tooley said this is the first international regular-season event the company has hosted in any sport.

Her motivation for planning the event in Paris was somewhat selfish: It was the first international city she traveled to as a child, the first stamp she ever received on her passport. South Carolina and Notre Dame were her first choices for the game, Notre Dame for the obvious connection to the famed French cathedral and South Carolina for its ever-growing brand power under Staley.

"You knew it was meant to be when no one hesitated. I got ESPN on board. We have an unbelievable blue chip title sponsor (Aflac). It was just genuinely meant to be," Miller-Tooley said. "(Paris) is my favorite city in the world ... It's cool to come full circle and do it with a group of women and focus on women who deserve the credit that's finally due."

For Staley, the decision to work with Miller-Tooley's all-female management group was easy, especially once Notre Dame got involved. Irish coach Niele Ivey and Staley are two of just eight Power Five coaches who played in the WNBA.

"We couldn't not do it. It's a once-in-a-lifetime trip for us both educationally and athletically," Staley said. "To bring in Niele and Notre Dame, I think it's only fitting. We're both Under Armour schools. We're two Black women that have programs on the rise, and we've got players who want to play internationally. Here's an opportunity for them to do that."

Setting an itinerary for the teams wasn't a problem for Miller-Tooley, knowing the key attractions that were must-sees — the Eiffel Tower, a private tour of the Louvre, an evening cruise on the River Seine. She said biggest complication in planning was navigating the language barrier, from the fan experience to players' transportation.

"There's different protocols in every country and city. There's so many different constituencies that you have to work with, especially dealing with the the arena that's owned by the city, so there's a lot of logistical hoops that are much more complicated," Miller-Tooley said. "We had to get the ticketing system translated into English so people could buy tickets ... The bus drivers don't speak English. Just every step that you take has to have an extra one."

More than 3,000 spectators are anticipated for Monday's sold-out game at Halles Georges Arena. Miller-Tooley said the director of the French U.S. Embassy and Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo are expected to attend, as is French designer Richfresh who created custom track suits for both teams.

Connecting athletes with international travel is a lifelong passion for Miller-Tooley, who played tennis at both Wake Forest and Georgia Tech. As Paris prepares to host the Olympics in 2024, Milley-Tooley described the experience of preceding the Games as "beyond special."

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"To be the precursor before the biggest event in all of life — in sports, outside sports — and to be able to be here and do it with these young women, it's a dream," she said. "The value of being able to see the world is priceless ... My favorite part is just to see the faces of the players on all the excursions. It's exposing them to culture hands on at a level that, even when most people come to Paris, they don't get."

Follow South Carolina women's basketball reporter Emily Adams on X @eaadams6 and subscribe to The Greenville News for exclusive coverage of the Gamecocks in Paris: https://subscribe.greenvilleonline.com/offers.

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This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Inside South Carolina, Notre Dame historic basketball game in Paris