Skip to main content
South Carolina

South Carolina women's basketball alum signs new WNBA contract

Screenshotby: Kevin Miller08/18/25kevinmillerGC
Golden State Valkyries guard Bree Hall (21) and forward Laeticia Amihere (3) pose for a photo with South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball head coach Dawn Staley and Seattle Storm guard Zia Cooke (7) after the game at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
Golden State Valkyries guard Bree Hall (21) and forward Laeticia Amihere (3) pose for a photo with South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball head coach Dawn Staley and Seattle Storm guard Zia Cooke (7) after the game at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

South Carolina women’s basketball alum Zia Cooke has had a busy season. Following an offseason signing by the Seattle Storm, Cooke made the opening day roster. She played most of the first part of the season in the Storm’s rotation. However, fellow former Gamecock Tiffany Mitchell somewhat took her place on the court.

Then, Cooke briefly reappeared in the rotation before moving to the bench for back-to-back games. Seattle traded her to the Washington Mystics on August 5th, but Washington waived her. Now, Cooke is on the move again. On Monday, the Seattle Storm signed their former player to a contract for the rest of the season.

The team announced the move on Monday afternoon.

Get GamecockCentral for $1 your first week. As a bonus, your membership includes a complimentary year of The Athletic.

Cooke returns to Seattle after less than two weeks away. During her first stint with the franchise, she averaged 3.3 points per game in just 10.4 minutes per game. She also shot 38.2% from outside the three-point arc.

With Cooke back on a roster, South Carolina has ten players on WNBA teams at the time of this writing. She rejoins Tiffany Mitchell as part of the Storm’s backcourt. As things stand, Seattle is in the 8-seed in the WNBA Postseason race.

During Cooke’s South Carolina women’s basketball career, she was a National Champion and All-American. She also won the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award in 2023 as the country’s best shooting guard.

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