South Carolina women's basketball: SEC Preview part 3 - A Title Contender, a Controversy, and a Big Question

---

The college basketball season is underway, although we are still a couple of months from the beginning of the SEC schedule. Today, we have part three of our SEC preview, which includes a title contender, last year’s biggest surprise, and this year’s biggest question mark.

• ALSO SEE: SEC Preview Part 1 – SEC Preview Part 2

Ole Miss Rebels
Last season: 22-7 (12-4, 3rd in SEC), (NCAA Second Round)
Preseason projection: 5
Key losses: Marquesha Davs, Snudda Collins
Key additions: Christeen Iwuala

Outlook: She isn’t technically an addition, but getting KK Deans back from injury is a huge boost for the Rebels. She torched Southern Cal for 19 points, and Ole Miss nearly pulled off the upset in Paris. Ole Miss finally moved into the top three of the SEC standings last season, and Yolett McPhee-McCuin has her eye on joining the SEC’s elite. With that in mind, she hired controversial coach Quentin Hillsman, who resigned from Syracuse following allegations of abusive behavior. McPhee-McCuin also put together a challenging schedule with as many as three top-ten opponents.

“We have beefed up our non-conference schedule simply because our conference schedule has beefed up. I know that sounds crazy. For me, I’d rather our players have a chance to dive into the competitive space before we get into what I call the baby WNBA, which is the SEC,” she said. “We were devastated when KK went down. She’s the heartbeat of our team, an extension of me. Really had been working hard and had big goals. I’ve always been impressed with KK’s tenacity and toughness. But after seeing her go through the process of returning after this ACL injury, I’m even more inspired by just her character and her will to want to be back and be there for the team.”

Tennessee Lady Vols
Last season: 17-11 (10-6, 5th in SEC) (NCAA Second Round)
Preseason projection: 7
Key losses: Rickea Jackson
Key additions: Ruby Whitehorn

Outlook: Perhaps no team in the SEC has a higher ceiling and lower floor than Tennessee. The Lady Vols took the ultimate home run swing in hiring Kim Caldwell. She has a career .875 winning percentage but just one season coaching at the Division I level at Marshall. She believes in an up-tempo, aggressive style that uses 10-11 players. Nobody knows if it will work in the SEC, but it’s what Caldwell believes in.

“I think the game is definitely trending fast. I think we’re going to be on the forefront of that,” Caldwell said. “We’re going to turn it up a notch and play faster than most. As far as making a winning culture, you have to have great relationships with your players. I’m very fortunate we already have a great culture at Tennessee in a short amount of time. Our team is full of great kids. I love to be around them. You just have a brand. You believe in your brand. You teach it every day. You explain the why. You pour into your kids every day.”

[STOP! Don’t rely on search engines and social media for YOUR South Carolina WBB info. Sign up for the free GamecocksW newsletter.]

Texas Longhorns
Last season: 33-5 (14-4, 2nd in Big 12) (NCAA Elite Eight)
Preseason projection: 2
Key losses: Shaylee Gonzales
Key additions: Laila Phelia (transfer), Jordan Lee, Justice Carlton

Outlook: Texas brought in a talented recruiting class, but the biggest addition is the return of Rori Harmon from a knee injury. Freshman forward Madison Booker took over point guard duties, and Texas still made the Elite Eight, but getting one of the best point guards in the country back has Texas thinking Final Four this season. 

“That team would not have been that if it hadn’t been for Madison Booker embracing being the point guard. Now, you fast forward to where we are now. There’s nobody more excited on our team that Rori Harmon is back than Madison Booker. She wants to get back on the wing where she’s really comfortable,” Vic Schaefer said. “Rori’s presence, how hard she plays, the energy that she plays with permeates through my team every day, every game. I think she really is a settling influence on my entire team. It gives my team a lot of confidence. It gives her head coach a lot of confidence to know that we have her back on the floor leading our team. It’s a really good feeling to know we’ve got great guard play. You win with guard play in basketball. You can have all the size in the world. You don’t have guard play, you got no chance.”

Texas A&M Aggies
Last season: 18-11 (6-10, 9th in SEC) (NCAA First Round)
Preseason projection: 13
Key losses: Janiah Barker, Endyia Rogers
Key additions: Amirah Abdur-Rahim (transfer), Janae Kent (transfer), Taliyah Parker

Outlook: The Aggies have already played two games, and the results have not inspired confidence: a 62-56 season-opening loss to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi followed by a 55-51 win over UTSA. Texas A&M is shooting 30.8% for the season, and 19.5% from three. At SEC Media Day, Joni Taylor was concerned but optimistic things would be better than this point.

“Where we are right now is I would still love to see a little bit more consistency in who we are in practice every single day,” Taylor said. “We have three great days, then we have just an okay day. I want a great day every day. Really good teams, they show up every single day, they do what they have to do at a high level. They don’t get bored with the mundane, with excellence. We have to continue to create those types of habits. When you have teams that can walk in every single day in a practice, attack it, get it done at a high level, that’s when you know that you are on your way to building something at a championship level.”

Vanderbilt Commodores
Last season: 22-8 (9-7, 6th in SEC), (NCAA First Round)
Preseason projection: 10
Key losses: Jordyn Cambridge
Key additions: Mikayla Blakes, Leilani Kapinus (transfer)

Outlook: Vanderbilt had a breakthrough season last year, improving by 10 wins overall and six wins in the SEC. It’s especially encouraging because the Commodores only lost one starter, Cambridge. They add Blakes, the highest-ranked recruit in program history, and Kapinus, an all-Big Ten player. Shea Ralph certainly appears to have built the Commodores for the long haul.

“The success we had last year, we focused a ton on laying the foundation of our culture. I feel like our culture is in a pretty good place,” Ralph said. “And we were able to start practice a little sooner this year. We’ve been together for longer. We’re playing more five-on-five than we have. I love a good drill. The additions that we’ve made, the success that we’ve had, the movement of our program in a positive direction has allowed me to do some things sooner. I also think the experience of being a head coach has kind of pushed me into doing some things sooner so that we’re not tripping over some of the mistakes we’ve had in the past early on in the season.”

Discuss South Carolina women’s basketball on The Insiders Forum!