COLUMBIA — At the South Carolina women's basketball parade Sunday, Mayor Daniel Rickenmann recognized the more than 18 million people who watched this year's NCAA women's basketball national championship game against Iowa.

A young girl turned around. She pointed to herself, she looked at her mom.

She was one of them.

Zion Alvarez, a 7-year-old South Carolina native, stood with her mother, dressed in matching gray "38-0" shirts, with black Gamecocks hats and black skirts. Zion was excited to be there, saying the team means a lot to her.

When asked if she plays basketball right now, she said: "No, but I think I might play basketball for Dawn Staley."

The festivities officially began at 2 p.m. ET, but fans lined the parade route as early as 10 a.m. Staley, the players, assistant coaches and representatives road in various vehicles (for Staley, it was a Rolls-Royce) down Main Street to the South Carolina Statehouse.

Speakers included athletic director Ray Tanner, U.S. Rep. James Clyburn and university president Michael Amiridis. Each member of the Gamecocks team received a proclamation from the mayor before Te-Hina Paopao and Staley concluded with their speeches.

Among the crowd at the statehouse downtown, fans ignored the beating sun. It didn't matter if it was nap time for some as dogs roamed and colors rarely differed from garnet, black and gray. Shirts read "perfect" or "Staley's Boo." People danced, whether it was to OutKast, Dua Lipa or Jason Mraz.

The sea of fans ranged in ages and heights, but the tallest of all were young girls on shoulders, pointing to Staley and the players.

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"It's good for young girls to see that girls sports are just as important as men's sports," Katie Gulledge said, a South Carolina alum who lives in the state with her three daughters and husband Nate.

"The way (Dawn) coaches her team, the way they play, it shows they have tenacity, they overcome adversity and raising girls, it's hugely important they understand it's part of who they are just as much as boys who are being raised to play sports, too," Nate said.

Paige Snell drove 30 minutes to watch the parade.

"(Their success) shows we can do anything we want, you can be the best coach, the best player, you can do whatever you want at any age," Snell said.

"In the words of Raven 'Crockpot' Johnson, it's time for a repeat tour," Paopao said.

Staley gave a special shoutout to her only graduating senior, Kamilla Cardoso, pointing out that she skipped the WNBA draft orientation to attend the parade with her team. Cardoso walked up to the statehouse carrying the NCAA championship trophy. She is expected to be a top-five pick in the draft, which will be at 7:30 p.m. ET Monday in New York and broadcast on ESPN.

The mayor joked that after three national title wins for Staley, becoming the first Black coach in Division I basketball to lead an undefeated championship team — he barely got out the words before applause erupted — a street named after her, and a statue, there weren't many options left to honor her.

So Rickenmann gifted Staley a UFC-inspired championship belt that she proudly held up to the crowd.

Watching Staley from roughly 200 feet away, Zion Alvarez turned to her mom and embraced her in a hug.

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: Fans embrace South Carolina women's basketball, Dawn Staley at parade