COLUMBIA — After ESPN announced that the preshow "College GameDay" would be in Columbia for South Carolina football vs LSU, the next question was who would be the guest picker.

On each show, a special guest joins the desk of ESPN analysts and provides insight to the game. Sometimes the guest picker has nothing to do with sports, like singer Darius Rucker, a South Carolina alum who appeared on the show in 2023. But this week's guest picker is South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley.

After the news broke Thursday, some wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, and questioned the relationship between Staley and South Carolina football.

Coach Shane Beamer spoke about Staley to The Greenville News via text on Friday morning.

"Dawn is someone I've admired since she was in college at (Virginia) and I was part of the Virginia Tech community," Beamer wrote. "She's become a great friend and a huge supporter of our football team. I appreciate her willingness for me to bounce ideas off of her and spend time around her team."

Staley played basketball for Virginia from 1988 to 1992. Beamer played football at Virginia Tech from 1995 to 1999. Beamer grew up around football in Virginia because his father, Frank Beamer, coached the Hokies for 29 seasons (1987-2015).

At 2024 SEC Media Days, Beamer revealed that some recruits wanted to meet Staley when they were on South Carolina's campus. Beamer said Staley found time even in the middle of her season to meet with about eight recruits, and she's been to his house to meet recruits as well.

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"(Staley) is fantastic. It's great for me to be able to watch her coach, learn from her, go and watch her team practice ... even last season early on, I called her to talk about some things," Beamer said on July 15. "Coaching is coaching, teaching is teaching ... there's a lot of things I've learned from her. She's willing to do anything for our program."

When asked if Beamer and Staley exchange advice, he responded, "I don't think she needs any from me."

Beamer was in Cleveland for the women's basketball team's 2024 national championship, and shortly after, Staley visited the football team during a practice this spring. Staley also went to the spring football game on April 20, which resulted in loud applause from fans when she appeared on the big screen.

Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at lkesin@gannett.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Lulukesin

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer praises Dawn Staley