South Carolina women's basketball signee Joyce Edwards is the Gatorade National Player of the Year

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South Carolina signee Joyce Edwards has been named the 2023-24 Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year. WNBA All-Star Satou Sabally presented the Camden native with the award. 

Edwards beat out nearly half a million other student-athletes who play girls’ basketball nationwide. Earlier this month the contenders were narrowed down to three finalists: Edwards, Jaloni Cambridge, and Kennedy Smith.

Edwards is the second-ranked overall recruit and is a two-time South Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year. A three-sport standout who also plays volleyball and soccer, Edwards averaged 31.3 points, 13.3 rebounds, 4.5 steals and 4.0 assists as a senior and led Camden to the state championship.

The honor is just the latest in a long list of awards Edwards has captured. She is the two-time MaxPreps South Carolina state player of the year (supplanting current Gamecock MiLaysia Fulwiley) and was named the MaxPreps all-sports National Player of the Year for 2022-23.

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Last summer, Edwards also won a gold medal at the FIBA U19 World Cup. Edwards was one of only two high school players on the roster.

Edwards is the second Gatorade National Player of the Year Award signed by the Gamecocks, joining Saniya Rivers. As a freshman, Rivers won a national championship with the Gamecocks and then transferred to NC State. Other recent Gatorade National Players of the Year include Juju Watkins, Kiki Rice, Paige Bueckers, and Caitlin Clark.

Edwards is the sixth South Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year signed by Dawn Staley, but the first two-time winner. She joins Ashlyn Watkins (2021-22), Talaysia Cooper (2020-21) (transferred to Tennessee), A’ja Wilson (2013-14), Alaina Coates (2012-13), and Asia Dozier (2011-12).

Edwards is the star of South Carolina’s second-ranked 2024 recruiting class. The other members of the class are 12th-ranked point guard Madisen McDaniel and 26th-ranked post Adhel Tac. After a knee injury ended her senior season, Tac enrolled in January to rehab with South Carolina’s training staff.

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