Jolette Law was about to head on vacation when Dawn Staley called her.

The South Carolina head coach was looking for a new assistant coach to fill the void left by Nikki McCray-Penson, and she didn’t have to look far.

There was mutual interest in Law joining Staley’s team in Columbia, and soon after she got back from her trip, Law was announced as the Gamecocks’ new assistant coach.

“I thought she was playing tricks on me because I was about to go on vacation,” Law said. “She just asked me if there’d be any interest and I said definitely when I come back, definitely call me and we’ll talk.”

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A native of Florence, she’s known as an elite recruiter and defensive mind, something she hopes to bring to a young Gamecock team this season. She’s coached against Staley while at Tennessee and recruited some of the players on this current Gamecock team.

Law’s latest stop on her more than 20-year coaching journey was at Tennessee, where she was an assistant coach for the Volunteers. Before that, she had stops at Illinois (2007-12), Rutgers (1995-2007) and Ball State (1994-95).

It’s that kind of experience that drew Staley to her new assistant coach.

“We’ve known her for a long time, so it’s not like we have to teach her the ropes. It’s kind of bringing in and doing what she does,” Staley said. “When you bring in someone as experienced as Jolette, you don’t have to worry about some things. She definitely fills some holes for us that Nicki left.”

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But Staley wasn’t just drawn to Law; Law was drawn to the Gamecocks long before being hired this season. She approached Staley before this offseason, telling the former Olympian she’d love to be a part of the coaching staff if the chance came.

But with entrenched assistants Lisa Boyer, McCray-Penson and Fred Chmiel on staff, there was only a slight chance she’d get her opportunity. But when McCray-Penson left Columbia to become the head coach at Old Dominion, Staley rememberd that conversation and Law got her chance.

“I knew Boyer wasn’t going anywhere and I said Fred’s not going anywhere, and I didn’t think Nikki would leave. But I said if the opportunity presents itself, call me,” Law said. “And she did.”

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Law’s fitting seamlessly into the new coaching staff; picking up where McCray-Penson left off. She’s working with Staley and the team during her summer camps, being the victim of Staley’s traditional posterizing dunks during summer sessions.

She’s inheriting a young team that she’s partly in charge of molding, along with the rest of the coaching staff, to try and repeat as national champions. She’ll do it under Staley, who won her first national title this year and will take over the Olympic women’s basketball team in 2020.

Originally from South Carolina, she joked her family in Florence is going to be getting season tickets and Staley laughed about Law’s family wanting to bus in to the team’s summer camps.

For Law, it’s that in-state connection that drew her back to Columbia, and now she’ll get to help coach a team fresh of a national title.

“This is home. Twenty three years of coaching all over the country, going all over the country, but there’s no place like home,” she said. “And having the opportunity to be here at this university and coach with a hall of famer, an Olympian, the next Olympic coach, a national champion, I’m pinching myself right now. I can’t believe this is happening to me right now.”