South Carolina women's basketball: The quiet parts of her game make Joyce Edwards great

With great players, sometimes it’s the little things that speak the loudest. Everyone sees the baskets, the blocks, or the rebounds. Those snippets make good content on social media. But it’s the things that don’t make good content that are more telling.

Last week, Joyce Edwards was named SEC Player of the Week in recognition of her performances against Clemson and (especially) Southern Cal. The announcement came out around noon, the same time South Carolina started its normal Tuesday practice.

As a result, none of the Gamecocks knew about the honor until after practice ended a couple of hours later. Dawn Staley was the first to find out, informed by the media scrum while the players were doing post-practice free throw shooting.

Staley turned and shouted across the practice courts to stop shooting. “Congrats to Joyce! SEC Player of the Week!” she yelled, and almost everyone cheered. Only the player of the week was unimpressed.

“Obviously, it’s an honor. I’m glad my hard work is being shown,” Edwards said of her first SEC Player of the Week honor. “But in the end, it really means nothing.”

She isn’t wrong. The weekly honors, especially the third week in November, are as much about creating content as they are basketball. When the goal is to win a national championship, they are small potatoes. But that quiet shrug was a glimpse into her mindset.

Edwards had a tremendous freshman season. She led the Gamecocks in scoring, reached the Final Four, was named first-team All-SEC and honorable mention All-American.

Yet, all offseason, Staley prodded Edwards for more. Take over games, score more, and become a better defender. Then Staley would drop the big one. Be more like A’ja Wilson.

That’s a tall task for anyone. Wilson is the best basketball player in the world, maybe the best ever when all is said and done. Edwards has played one season of college basketball.

Fair or not, once Edwards committed to South Carolina, she was always going to be compared to Wilson. It’s an honor, but it could also be a burden. It didn’t help that their freshman seasons were eerily similar.

Wilson made a big leap in her sophomore season, winning her first of three consecutive SEC Player of the Year awards. Staley wanted Edwards to make a similar leap, hence the offseason prodding.

“Joyce is finding her footing, and she’s very comfortable with what she’s doing out there on both sides of the ball,” Staley said after announcing Edwards’ Player of the Week honor. “Just like her activity on both sides of the ball, I like her competitiveness and her will to win.”

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Statistically, Edwards has significantly improved every part of her game from last season. To be fair, South Carolina has mostly played the weak part of its schedule so far, but progress is progress.

“Every game has their own lessons,” Edwards said. “Every team throws something a little different. You just go into the game with an open mind. You do what you usually do, you show a lot of effort, and the game is going to take care of itself.”

2024: 21.3 mpg, 52.9 FG%, 3.6 FTA, 12.7 ppg, 5.0 apg, 1.5 apg, 0.7 spg, 0.4 bpg
2025: 28.3 mpg, 61.3 FG%, 5.5 FTA, 19.8 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.0 spg, 1.8 bpg 

The biggest area of improvement for Edwards, both statistically and from watching games, is on defense. Edwards was a great defensive player in high school, but last season, she was merely okay.

Staley would remind Edwards that the great players, especially the all-time greats, were great defenders. That’s especially true at South Carolina, where Staley’s best players – the Wilsons, Tiffany Mitchells, Aliyah Bostons, Kamilla Cardosos – were defensive standouts.

Some players might not like being told to play better defense. Defense doesn’t go viral on TikTok or get NIL deals. But Edwards faced the criticism head-on.

“It was more of a focus thing, putting my mind on something,” she said. “I feel like I’m a really competitive person. I want to meet my goals. I feel like she’s challenging me in a way so I can be a better overall player. But especially my defense. I’ve been really focusing on staying in a stance, staying low, just being disciplined overall.”

In many ways, Edwards’ approach should be a reminder that great players welcome coaching. They want to know how they can get better, and they don’t get upset by constructive criticism.

It’s up to coaches to figure out how to deliver that criticism. With Wilson, Staley would constantly needle her star pupil. She’d point out mistakes, make little jokes in public, and withhold the praise she heaped on other players. It was what Wilson responded to.

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With Boston, Staley gently built her up. It was Boston’s nature to defer to her teammates, not dominate. She could be too cerebral, focused on making the right play even if the best play was to do it herself. Everything was positive, building Boston’s confidence until she understood she could be great (once she was great, Staley would sprinkle in the criticisms as motivation).

Those are just two examples, and every player has a different blueprint. Does Staley use any of those old blueprints when she coaches Edwards?

Staley pondered the question. She pondered it for 5-10 seconds, which felt like an eternity. She brought it back to Wilson.

“Probably A’ja’s blending days,” Staley said. “And there weren’t a whole lot of them, but I coach Joyce from those moments. Not necessarily in games, more in practice.”

The silence said more than the words. 

Staley didn’t have to say it. Like Edwards, Wilson joined a championship team. She couldn’t just walk into the first practice and take over. But they were also the most talented players on teams loaded with talent. Sooner or later, they would have to be great, and it’s Edwards’ time.

NEW! Message board for South Carolina Women’s Basketball!