South Carolina women's basketball: New players get their numbers

The new Gamecocks have their numbers. South Carolina announced the numbers on social media on Tuesday.

Ta’Niya Latson will wear 00. She also wore 00 at Florida State. Latson is the third Gamecock to wear 00. Beth Hunt wore it from 1989-90, and Petra Ujhelyi wore it from 2000-03. 

Seven Gamecocks have worn a single 0, including Olivia Thompson and Te-Hina Paopao over the past six seasons. Under NCAA rules, 0 and 00 are not the same number, but a team can’t have both (unlike the NBA, where 0 and 00 can not only be on the same team, but play at the same time).

Madina Okot will wear 11. Okot wore 15 at Mississippi State last season, but that was taken by Adhel Tac. She also wore 15 in Kenya. Okot is the 11th Gamecock to wear 11. Among the former 11s are Talaysia Cooper, Destiny Littleton, Lindsey Spann, and, of course, the Fan Favorite, La’Keisha Sutton.

Okot is the first Kenyan to play for South Carolina. She and Agot Makeer, who has dual American/Canadian citizenship (and South Sudanese heritage), are the 23rd and 24th international players to suit up for the Gamecocks.

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Ayla McDowell has opted to wear 24. Unlike the others, McDowell hasn’t consistently worn one number in her young career. She wore 2, 23, and 24 in high school, 5 for Brazil, and 2 and 24 in All-American games.

McDowell is an American citizen who competes internationally for Brazil. She is the second Gamecock, following Kamilla Cardoso, to compete for Brazil.

24 has been a popular number at South Carolina, worn by 14 previous players. They include Demetress Adamas, Aleighsa Welch, and LeLe Grissett. Once McDowell appears in a game, 24 will be tied with 12 as the most popular number in program history.

Makeer will wear 44. She has worn the number 1 for most of her career, but that is taken by Maddy McDaniel. When 1 wasn’t available, Makeer wore 11 as a senior in high school. With Okot claiming 11, Makeer chose 44. 

At least seven former players have worn 44. It was worn most recently by Saniya Rivers in 2021-22. Like Makeer, Rivers chose 44 because her preferred number wasn’t available (Rivers doubled her preferred number 22).

This is the third season that the NCAA has allowed numbers other than 0-5. Last season, Joyce Edwards (8) became the first player to take advantage of that rule. Edwards wore 12 in high school and with USA Basketball (and wore 13 when 12 wasn’t available). But MiLaysia Fulwiley already had 12, and 13 is retired for Martha Parker, so Edwards decided to pick a brand new number that she could make her own.

With Fulwiley gone, 12 is once again available. Edwards wore 12 in the AmeriCup this summer and the 3×3 Nations League, but is still listed as 8 on South Carolina’s website.

Originally, South Carolina retired numbers – Martha Parker’s 13, Shannon Johnson’s 14, and Sheila Foster’s 53 are each retired, which takes the number out of circulation. But the athletics department switched to retiring jerseys, which means the number can still be worn. 

Tiffany Mitchell’s 25 jersey and A’ja Wilson’s 22 jersey are officially retired, but Raven Johnson has been allowed to continue wearing 25. Unofficially, along with Aliyah Boston’s 4, Wilson’s number 22 has been retired.

“It’s retired,” Dawn Staley said in February. “I can confirm that.”

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