On Sunday afternoon, Bree Hall returned to South Carolina’s locker room after the first part of her warmup and saw a handwritten note taped to the back wall of her locker.
The note accompanied a picture that was mostly a collage of puzzle pieces outlining the NCAA Tournament’s championship trophy. One of the pieces not showing the trophy was of a 3-year-old South Carolina fan whose hair had been braided with beads that spelled out players’ names. Another puzzle piece was blank. On the right side of the page were a few sentences hand-written in gold Sharpie to Hall.
The message was exactly what Hall said she needed to hear: “That I am Bree Hall, and that I am that girl. And I have put in a lot of the work throughout the season to be in this place, and that I have to let things come to me.” It reminded her she was ready and prepared.
Hall, a senior, wasn’t alone in receiving a letter of encouragement ahead of top-seeded South Carolina’s Elite Eight matchup with Duke. All of her teammates received one, too.
In fact, since mid-January, every time South Carolina players return from warm-ups to the locker room with just under an hour until tipoff, they have found a letter at their locker. The author? South Carolina assistant Mary Wooley.
“I want them to feel seen, valued…
