NCAA champions UConn and South Carolina headed to White House to celebrate national titles

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — UConn and South Carolina are headed to the White House to celebrate their latest NCAA basketball titles.

The schools announced the visits, where they will be honored by President Joe Biden, on Thursday.

UConn men’s basketball, which won back-to-back NCAA Tournament titles for the first time since Florida did it in 2006 and 2007, is making its sixth visit to the White House.

It will be the first visit for South Carolina. Coach Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks did not go to the White House following championships in 2017 and 2022.

South Carolina finished last season 38-0, becoming the first undefeated NCAA Tournament champions since the UConn women accomplished the feat in 2016.

Staley, a three-time Olympic gold medalist and coach of the U.S. women’s basketball team in Tokyo three years ago, recently served as a member of the Presidential Delegation to the Paris Olympics.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball