South Carolina women's basketball: Agot Makeer and Ayla McDowell say FIBA experience prepared them for college

Freshmen Agot Makeer and Ayla McDowell are off to impressive starts to the season, and both credit their international experience for smoothing the transition to college.

In late June, McDowell competed in the AmeriCup Tournament in Chile for the Brazilian senior national team. Immediately after the AmeriCup, McDowell traveled from Chile to Czechia for the U19 World Cup. Makeer, who plays for Canada, joined McDowell in Brno.

Makeer averaged 10.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.4 steals. She didn’t start for Canada, but was often in the closing lineup as Canada went undefeated in group play. Makeer nearly won the bronze medal game when she stole the inbounds pass from Spain with 4.7 seconds left. She launched a three as time expired, but the would-be game-winner was off the mark.

Brazil was outmatched in almost every game, but McDowell averaged 16.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.7 steals, and 1.5 assists for the tournament. She was often Brazil’s only offensive threat, allowing defenses to key on her and hold her to 29.4% shooting and 28.6% from three. McDowell was the seventh-leading scorer for the week and fifth in steals.

Playing internationally meant Makeer and McDowell joined the Gamecocks later than normal for freshmen. While that put all of the Gamecocks behind schedule when it came to installing schemes, it flattened the learning curve for the freshmen.

“I think the physicality (prepared me,” Makeer said before the game against Grand Canyon. “It’s overseas, so you’re playing with a lot of European basketball, so it’s physical. It got me ready to play hard and play a lot of different teams and a lot of different styles. I think that’s helped.”

McDoweel agreed.

“To be honest, it’s really not a big change for me,” she said after the Bowling Green game. “I’ve played FIBA ball; it’s very aggressive. I’ve played aggressive teams in AAU, and to me, it’s really not a big difference.”

South Carolina has just 10 healthy players this season because of injuries to Chloe Kitts and Ashlyn Watkins. That has forced the freshmen to become immediate contributors.

Because of their experience with the physicality of FIBA and the high-level coaching that comes with it, Dawn Staley has confidence in Makeer and McDowell. Before the season-opener, she was asked what she wanted to see from the freshmen, and she said she just wanted them to be themselves.

“I don’t want to put pressure on them,” Staley said. “They put enough pressure on themselves. They’re talented. They’re super talented. They are confident. They’ve been holding their own. Not very many instances when they look like freshmen, and when they do, we tell them. They know, though. They text me and say, “I’ve got to be better.” That’s so cool to have them recognize it to the point where you don’t have to pound on them. They recognize who they are and the standards they set for themselves. That’s a great quality.”

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That doesn’t mean the transition has been completely seamless. Makeer had five turnovers in the exhibition against North Carolina. After scoring 16 points against Division II Anderson, it was the “welcome to college” moment that almost everyone has.

“Mentally, it shook me a little bit,” Makeer said. “I’m glad I got that over in the preseason, and I’m ready to go mentally.”

She appears to be ready. Through two games, Makeer is averaging 8.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks. Against Bowling Green, she had 12 points and three rebounds despite sitting out the fourth quarter.

McDowell hasn’t had a similar welcome to college moment, at least not publicly. To be fair, she sat out the North Carolina game while recovering from an illness, so the only ranked opponent McDowell has faced is in practice.

“I feel very prepared,” McDowell said after the Bowling Green game. “Coach always talks about bringing practice habits to the game. And I practice how I play. It’s just about having the confidence (and) coming into a game and doing the same thing that I do in practice. And I think it’s converting pretty well.”

McDowell is averaging 10.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.5 steals. Best of all, she is who the Gamecocks thought she was when they recruited McDowell: a high-energy player who plays hard on defense, hustles, and can knock down threes.

“Ayla’s predictable, and there is nothing more that a coach wants from a freshman than to be predictable,” Staley said. “She is in the right places. She can shoot the ball. Defensively, she’s not gonna look like a Raven (Johnson). But her impact on the ball, off the ball, she stays and plays. And she does what we ask of all of our guards. If you just look at her, she plays it pitch-perfect.”

The freshmen will face bigger challenges this week. First up is in-state rival Clemson on Tuesday, and then they travel to California to face Southern Cal, fresh off an upset of NC State.

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