Lulu Kesin

Lulu Kesin is a sports journalist covering South Carolina athletics — including women’s basketball and SEC football — for the USA Today Network and The Greenville News. She previously gained experience with The Ringer, Sports Illustrated, and The Boston Globe and has bylines across national platforms. A double major graduate in Communication and Journalism from UMass Amherst (2023), she served as Sports Editor of The Massachusetts Daily Collegian and expanded coverage to underrepresented voices in sports. Kesin’s work spans beat reporting, editing, fact checking, podcasting, and written and broadcast journalism, with a strong focus on human-interest storytelling within athletics.

The Greenville News/USA TODAY Network • 6th April 2026

What Dawn Staley said Raven Johnson's career meant to South Carolina women's basketball

PHOENIX — Raven Johnson started giving some fluff answers then she stopped herself."I'll be honest, 'How do I stay motivated?' I want to win," Johnson said.It was the eve of the fifth-year point guard's fourth national championship game for South Carolina women's basketball and her message was as clear as it's been all season: take home another title.Less than 24 hours later, the Gamecocks' season ended in a 79-51 defeat to UCLA on April 5. Instead of Johnson becoming the first player to win thr...

The Greenville News/USA TODAY Network • 3rd April 2025

Why Dawn Staley is unlikely to call timeout in Final Four. South Carolina players love her for it

TAMPA, Fla. — Cinder block walls, two twin beds, a closet and desks, posters plastered for decorations. A small fridge, a VCR and a TV were the perks.Tuttle-Dunnington House, located in the center of a cluster of dorms on Virginia's campus, was where 18-year old Dawn Staley felt safe.Staley had no desire to be the center of attention.Charlottesville wasn't home, and it wasn't Philadelphia. When the 5-foot-6 point guard arrived on campus to play college basketball in 1988, introversion swallowed...

The Greenville News/USA TODAY Network • 4th June 2025

Dawn Staley's home is with South Carolina women's basketball but she's forever Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA — Dawn Staley doesn't want to move back to Philadelphia. For one thing, it's cold in the winter.

Staley, who has lived in Columbia since she started coaching South Carolina women's basketball in 2008, told her childhood best friend Dexter Matthews, she isn't coming back.

Philadelphia wants a WNBA team but when Staley returned home May 23 to promote her book "Uncommon Favor: Basketball, North Philly, My Mother and Life Lessons I learned from All Three," she shut down any hope she'd...

The Greenville News/USA TODAY Network • 1st December 2024

LaNorris Sellers became 'LaMagic' to lead South Carolina football to most important win of 2024

CLEMSON — The frustration, the confusion, was obvious."HOW DOES HE KEEP DOING THAT?" a Clemson fan yelled, looking around at the fans next to him for answers.Fans in the student section of Memorial Stadium were hoping, audibly begging, that the magic of South Carolina football quarterback LaNorris Sellers wouldn't kiss their team's playoff hopes goodbye.With the Gamecocks trailing 14-10 on third-and-16 with 1:18 to play, the ball was snapped and Sellers' pocket instantly dwindled. His options we...

The Greenville News/USA TODAY Network • 29th March 2025

How MiLaysia Fulwiley bounced back, kept South Carolina, Dawn Staley in March Madness

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. − The poetry was halfway in motion when South Carolina women's basketball sophomore guard MiLaysia Fulwiley heard a challenge she couldn't turn down.

The Sweet 16, No. 1 Gamecocks (33-3) vs. No. 4 Maryland, 26.9 seconds left in the third quarter with the scored tied. Fulwiley had two Terps (25-8) trailing her on a fast break and as she got closer to the basket, another approached.

"They were like, 'Come on, come on, she's not going to score this,'" Fulwiley said.

Fulwiley was...

The Greenville News/USA TODAY Network • 13th March 2025

How South Carolina's Sania Feagin emerged as the leader Dawn Staley needed after three inconsistent seasons

Sherri Feagin's feet were covered with confetti. She looked to her right at her daughter Sania and as she began to speak, a single teardrop fell.A few more followed. Glassy-eyed with a prideful smile.Feagin wiped the tears. She was donning a fresh "SEC tournament champion" hat and shirt, standing on the court in Bon Secours Wellness Arena after South Carolina women's basketball beat Texas for the program's ninth tournament title.Their arms intertwined, one on each back. A 6-foot-3 daughter with...

The Greenville News/USA TODAY Network • 30th December 2024

Why South Carolina's Shane Beamer says he is such an emotional football coach, tears and all

COLUMBIA — Shane Beamer's voice trembled.He was in South Carolina's locker room after the thrilling 17-14 victory at Clemson on Nov. 30."For that to be," was all he could say before South Carolina defensive back O'Donnell Fortune walked over to give him shoulder pads to cry on. Beamer latched onto the hug, as his players yelled, "Let it out, Coach!" in a video posted by the team.The tears Beamer wiped away weren't the first ones shed by the coach at a South Carolina football game.A year before,...

The Greenville News/USA TODAY Network • 10th March 2025

What Madison Booker told Bree Hall, why it motivated her in South Carolina's SEC win vs Texas

GREENVILLE — Bree Hall woke up Sunday morning and texted her parents."I'm shutting her down," was the message from the South Carolina women's basketball guard, referring to Texas star sophomore and SEC Player of the Year Madison Booker."I woke up with the mindset of 'I have to get her,' " Hall told The Greenville News in the locker room at Bon Secours Wellness Arena after No. 1 seed South Carolina (30-3) defeated No. 2 seed Texas 64-45 for the SEC tournament championship. "I know after that game...

The Greenville News/USA TODAY Network • 4th September 2025

How South Carolina punter Mason Love uses music, muscle and a one-word tattoo to pursue perfection

COLUMBIA — Shane Beamer noticed Mason Love is always wearing headphones.If it's game day for South Carolina football, the punter is listening to Etta James or Louis Armstrong to start then transitions to more fast-paced music closer to kickoff.“He’s not antisocial, he’s a great young man, but it's like he has tunnel vision,” Beamer said. “For him to be a young guy, he’s very much a pro.”Beamer arrived in December 2020, and Kai Kroeger was his constant at punter. A coach with deep special teams r...

The Greenville News/USA TODAY Network • 28th March 2025

Meet the 3-year-old South Carolina basketball fan with Dawn Staley, players' names braided into her hair

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. − The small stature comes with a large aura.Tay Harris weaved through the friends and family section for South Carolina women's basketball, and people noticed. Bouncing between high-fives, the 3-year-old girl greeted everyone, even Grammy Award winning rapper Plies.Last week, as March Madness kicked off for the No. 1 seed Gamecocks, Tay's hair made headlines.She arrived for the opener against Tennessee Tech with all the players and coach Dawn Staley's names braided into her hair...

The Greenville News/USA TODAY Network • 6th November 2025

Why Raven Johnson faces her biggest challenge in leading South Carolina to fourth title

COLUMBIA — Seven. Seven. Seven. That’s how Raven Johnson taps in.Breathe in seven times. For each breath, hold it for seven seconds. Let it out for seven. The serenity helps amplify her grit. Still and unmovable in order to be relentless and unconquerable.Her pre-game breath work centers her as she prepares to lead South Carolina women's basketball at a steady but rapid pace. The fifth-year point guard is tasked with preserving the history of coach Dawn Staley's program, trying to become the se...