After Joel Embiid's powerful dunk in the second quarter of the U.S. men's basketball game on Thursday, South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley gassed up Embiid on social media.

During Team USA's semifinal game against Serbia in Paris, Staley wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, "ladies and gentleman that is my @sixers @JoelEmbiid! Let’s freaking gooooooo!!!!"

This was far the first time Staley's tweeted about events happening in the 2024 Olympics, but her message on Thursday goes beyond just excitement, as Embiid plays for the Philadelphia 76ers, Staley's hometown NBA team.

Staley, a Philly native, has been to numerous 76ers games and spent a lot of the spring posting about the 76ers NBA playoff series with the New York Knicks. She was in the Wells Fargo Center for games 3 and 4 of the playoffs in April, and had the opportunity to ring the bell and share an embrace with 76ers legend Allen Iverson.

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Staley watched the U.S. women's basketball team live on Wednesday, as the Americans defeated Nigeria in the quarterfinals, led by former player A'ja Wilson.

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: Dawn Staley shouts out Joel Embiid after epic dunk in Olympic semifinal