South Carolina women's basketball: First look at next season
South Carolina Women’s Basketball: News • Recruiting • Schedule • Roster • Stats • SEC • Polls • Scholarships
The 2022 season is barely over, but it’s never too early to look ahead to next season.
Who’s gone and who’s back?
LeLe Grissett has used up all of her eligibility. The rest of the seniors have the option of using a “super senior” season or declaring for the draft. They have 48 hours from the end of the championship game to opt-in to the WNBA Draft. Nobody has definitively declared, but Destanni Henderson and Victaria Saxton have indicated they will not take advantage of a potential super senior season. Elysa Wesolek has sounded like she is done, and Destiny Littleton seems to still be deciding. In the before times I would have been able to ask each of them after the game, but open locker rooms are a thing of the past.
Brea Beal is the only junior who is eligible for the WNBA Draft. It’s highly unlikely she would opt-in. The rest of the roster returns, if not to South Carolina then to the transfer portal. Then South Carolina adds incoming freshmen Talaysia Cooper and Ashlyn Watkins.
That leaves two remaining scholarships.
Adding another player?
Dawn Staley will not fill the scholarships just to fill them. I could see South Carolina adding a veteran point guard through the transfer portal to pair with Raven Johnson. And if Janiah Barker decides to switch from Georgia to South Carolina, the Gamecocks would welcome her with open arms. But South Carolina already has depth at every position other than point guard, so the Gamecocks would probably only take an elite player in the portal.
Projected rotation
Aliyah Boston, Brea Beal, and Zia Cooke are set as the starters at post, wing, and two-guard. Johnson should take over at point guard. Power forward is a bit more of a question mark. It comes down to who compliments Boston best. South Carolina could start Kamilla Cardoso and go with a giant lineup. Do you start Laeticia Amihere or make her the sixth-woman? Is Sania Feagin ready to start? Bree Hall likely backs up Beal, and Saniya RIvers is the backup at both guard spots, giving her starter’s minutes. The two freshmen probably have a learning season ahead of them.
Way-too-early rankings
ESPN has South Carolina ranked first in its early rankings for next season. If anyone else needs the clickbait, they will too. With over 800 players in the transfer portal (and more likely to enter), it really is way-too-early.
Schedule
South Carolina will play UConn again next season. South Carolina will also play Duke. There will be a multi-team event. The SEC Tournament returns to Greenville next season. Also next season, the NCAA Tournament goes to two regional sites, Greenville, SC, and Seattle, WA. The Final Four is in Dallas.
