WNBA’s Tiffany Mitchell, other former South Carolina basketball players stuck in Israel amid strikes

South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley said Saturday that the university is working to bring three former basketball players, including WNBA veteran Tiffany Mitchell, home from Israel as joint U.S.-Israel missile strikes against Iran continue.

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 in Israel at the time of the attacks.

“Please pray for our @GamecockWBB @TiffMitch25 @2121Mikiah @dstnylttltn24 who are in a war zone in Israel,” his post read.

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“We are working on a plan to return home. Please pray that our loved ones return home safely as soon as possible! Thank you in advance.”

Neither the WNBA nor the University of South Carolina immediately responded to News Digital’s request for comment.

Littleton, who played for the South Carolina Gamecocks from 2019 to 2022, posted a series of video updates on social media indicating that he was “safe.”

“I’m about to go to the shelter now,” he said in a video. “It’s unfortunate, but this is the circumstance right now.”

Mitchell reshared Staley’s post on X with a 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 Israel Women’s Basketball Premier League. According to the team’s Facebook, he signed with the team in November. He previously played for the USA basketball team, winning a gold medal at the 2017 FIBA ​​3×3 U18 World Cup.

Mitchell signed with the Storm in July after beginning the 2025 season with the Las Vegas Aces. She has played several offseasons abroad, including a season in the Russian Women’s Basketball Premier League.

She last played with Hapoel Lev Jerusalem during the 2024-2025 season and won the Israeli Women’s Basketball Premier League championship in 2019. It was not immediately known if she would play for the team. She announced on her Instagram in November that she had signed with the Beijing Great Wall of the Chinese Women’s Basketball Association.

Herbert Harrigan was a first-round WNBA draft pick, selected sixth overall in the 2020 WNBA Draft. She has had several seasons throughout the league, and last played for the Mercury in 2024.

She was later traded to the Dallas Wings before being released last year. She currently plays in the Israeli Women’s Basketball Premier League for Elitzur Ramla.

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The United States joined Israel in launching strikes against Iran on Saturday morning. In video comments posted on Truth Social, Trump encouraged the Iranian people take over his government once the United States and Israel ended “major combat operations” in Iran.

Iran launched retaliatory missile attacks against US sites in several countries. News’ Jennifer Griffin reported that approximately 40 missiles had landed in Israel. Additionally, Iran appeared to attack the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, but no casualties were reported. Iran also launched missiles against Saudi Arabia and Jordan, where the United States has advanced fighter jet squadrons, Griffin added.

News Digital’s Michael Sinkewicz and Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.

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