South Carolina women's basketball: No need to panic

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The story we know as “Chicken Little,” in which a plucky young lad mistakes an acorn falling on his head for the end of the world, dates back to the early 1800s. The University of South Carolina was founded in 1801, around the same time period.

Now I can’t prove that Chicken Little was actually Cocky and that the story’s events began with an acorn falling from one of the oak trees on the Horseshoe, but there’s no way that shared time frame is just a coincidence. “The sky is falling!” is probably the second verse of the alma mater.

The sky is falling again. The latest acorn fell last weekwhen South Carolina missed out on Aneesah Morrow. Without her, says Chicken Little, the Gamecocks’ NCAA tournament hopes are doomed, and they are probably a WNIT team at best.

Never mind that South Carolina has an entire McDonald’s All-American team for its roster. Or that South Carolina is one of only five power conference teams that didn’t lose a player to the portal. And never mind that South Carolina filled both offseason needs, and did so with a junior college player of the year and a two-time first-team all-conference player.

Ignore the fact that Dawn Staley has built her program to be bigger than any one player, no matter how good she is. “We all we got, we all we need” started as the team motto in 2013, but it became a fundamental belief.

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It would have been nice to add an experienced scorer like Morrow to the frontcourt, and South Carolina certainly hoped Morrow would come to Columbia. It’s even more frustrating to lose her to LSU. 

But South Carolina is built so that its fortunes are never tied to a single player.

South Carolina’s last three recruiting classes, the players who will play important roles next season, ranked first, sixth, and second in the country. That doesn’t include Kamilla Cardoso, who came as a transfer and is one of the toughest matchups in the country.

The Gamecocks have recruited the last three players of the year in South Carolina: Talaysia Cooper, Ashlyn Watkins, and Milaysia Fulwiley. Each is supposed to be better than the last, and some say Fulwiley is the best Palmetto state recruit since A’ja Wilson. Others say you have to go back further.

In the frontcourt alone, Staley called Watkins the most physically impressive freshman she’s had. In her recruiting class, Sania Feagin was considered the player with the most potential. Staley called Feagin the most-skilled post player she’s had at South Carolina, making a point to add, “including Aliyah” Boston.

Fulwiley has spent this summer knocking down logo threes and hitting behind-the-back layups. She joins a backcourt led by Raven Johnson, who was the national player of the year in high school and the only reason Feagin didn’t win player of the year in Georgia. Johnson was at her best in South Carolina’s biggest games last season (like at UConn, the SEC championship, and the Final Four). She already has exceptional court vision, and this summer will be her first real offseason in the program.

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This doesn’t even include the transfers South Carolina did add. Te-Hina Paopao was one of the top players available in the portal, and is also exactly what South Carolina needed to add. She can back up Raven Johnson or play beside her, and is the most prolific three-point shooter South Carolina has had in a long time.

Sakima Walker is not as heralded, but she provides frontcourt depth that South Carolina absolutely needed. At worst, Walker is a key reserve who can defend and rebound, like she did at Rutgers. At best, she can bring some of the scoring ability that earned her juco player of the year honors last season.

We haven’t even mentioned Bree Hall, who was one of South Carolina’s most efficient players in the postseason and looks primed to break out. Or Chloe Kitts, who was probably the most underrated player in her class before she reclassified and enrolled early. Or Tessa Johnson, the sweet-shooting Minnesota player of the year who may have taken Kitts’ spot as most underrated.

South Carolina will be fine. The Gamecocks still boast one of the most talented rosters in the country. They are still one of the favorites to reach the Final Four. The sky is still there, with only acorns on the ground.

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