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South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley said Saturday that the university is working to bring three former women’s basketball players, including WNBA veteran Tiffany Mitchell, home from Israel as joint missile strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran continued.
Staley shared a message on X revealing that Mitchell, who played last season for the Seattle Storm; former Phoenix Mercury forward Mikiah Herbert Harrigan; and former Team USA guard Destiny Littleton were all in Israel at the time of the strikes.
Head coach Dawn Staley of the South Carolina Gamecocks during a game against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, S.C., Jan. 25, 2026. (Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)
“Please pray for our @GamecockWBB @TiffMitch25 @2121Mikiah @dstnylttltn24 who are in a war zone in Israel,” her post said.
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“We are working a plan to get home. Let us pray for our loved ones to return home safely asap! Thank you in advance.”
Neither the WNBA nor the University of South Carolina immediately responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Littleton, who played for the South Carolina Gamecocks from 2019-2022, posted a series of video updates on social media stating she was “safe.”
South Carolina guard Destiny Littleton during a game against the Kentucky Wildcats at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, S.C., Jan. 9, 2022. (John Byrum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
“I’m about to head to the shelter now,” she said in one video. “Unfortunate, but this is the circumstance right now.”
Mitchell reshared Staley’s post on X with praying hands emoji but did not comment further. Herbert Harrigan did the same.
Littleton plays for Hapoel Lev Jerusalem, a professional women’s basketball team in the Israeli Women Basketball Premier League. According to the team’s Facebook, she signed with the team in November. She previously played for Team USA basketball, winning a gold medal at the 2017 FIBA 3×3 U18 World Cup.
Tiffany Mitchell of the Seattle Storm moves the ball down the court against the Dallas Wings at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas, on Aug. 22, 2025. (Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)
Mitchell signed with the Storm in July after beginning the 2025 season with the Las Vegas Aces. She has played several offseasons overseas, including a stint with the Russian Women’s Basketball Premier League.
She last played with Hapoel Lev Jerusalem during the 2024-2025 season and won the Israeli Women Basketball Premier League championship in 2019. It was not immediately known if she was playing for the team. She announced on her Instagram in November that she had signed with the Beijing Great Wall of the Women’s Chinese Basketball Association.
Herbert Harrigan was a first-round draft pick in the WNBA, selected sixth overall in the 2020 WNBA Draft. She has had several stints throughout the league, last playing for the Mercury in 2024.
She was later traded to the Dallas Wings before getting waived last year. She currently plays in the Israeli Women Basketball Premier League for Elitzur Ramla.
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Mikiah Herbert Harrigan of the Phoenix Mercury against the Dallas Wings at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas, July 3, 2024. (Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
The U.S. joined Israel in launching strikes against Iran on Saturday morning. In video remarks posted to Truth Social, Trump encouraged the Iranian people to take over their government once the United States and Israel finished “major combat operations” in Iran.
Iran launched retaliatory missile strikes targeting U.S. sites in multiple countries. Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin reported that approximately 40 missiles had landed in Israel. Additionally, Iran appeared to hit the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, but no casualties were reported. Iran also launched missiles at Saudi Arabia and Jordan, where the U.S. has squadrons of advanced fighter jets, Griffin added.
Fox News Digital’s Michael Sinkewicz and Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.
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