COLUMBIA — The confetti has been bagged, the trophy is at its temporary home on the main desk in the office lobby, the net lovingly draped over it so any visitors who should happen to come by can’t miss it.
The South Carolina Gamecocks — sorry, the national champion South Carolina Gamecocks — took some deserved time off after winning their third title in seven tries, getting back to the grind of school and having some time to soak in what they’d accomplished. They’ll reconvene on Sunday on Main Street for their championship parade, and the speeches following the route will no doubt resemble what was heard the last time they did this, in 2022.
“Let’s run it back” was the battle cry then, a group of juniors wanting to win a repeat championship. And just like it was then, this team doesn’t have much to ponder when it comes to the personnel it will have to attempt to become the game’s first back-to-back national champion since Connecticut finished a run of four straight from 2013-16.
“It means that we have quietly done things, in my opinion, the right way. We find the right pieces to help us,” coach Dawn Staley said. “We really do things the right way. We’re very disciplined in how we approach basketball.”
Nine players were in the main rotation during a 38-0 season. Eight stand to be back, the only departure senior Kamilla Cardoso, who will be in Brooklyn on Monday evening to hear her WNBA Draft selection.
The rest? There’s certainly been no indication that anybody desires to leave. The Gamecocks lost Sahnya Jah, the freshman away from the team since Feb. 8 due to detrimental conduct and later entering the transfer portal, but she was the only one so far.
Freshman Adhel Tac joined the team midseason, taking a redshirt year as she recovered from a high-school injury. The signing class stands at two at present, with Joyce Edwards and Maddy McDaniel arriving this summer.
Breaking down the rest:
Seniors
Bree Hall and Sania Feagin will be in their final years, while Te-Hina Paopao has already said that she will use her COVID season to return to USC. Sakima Walker, the 10th player of the 10 eligible players USC had since Jah left, could also return.
Walker said after the national championship game that she had not made a decision about what to do. Like Paopao, she has an extra year if she wants to use it, but is on her third college in four years after starting at Rutgers and then going to junior college before USC.
Walker would aid depth, especially with Cardoso leaving, but it’s tough to see her playing time substantially increase after just two minutes per game this season. She is definitely welcome back if she desires to come back.
Juniors
Raven Johnson will be entering her fourth season at USC, but because of a redshirt during her freshman year, next year only counts as her third. Chloe Kitts and Ashlyn Watkins join her as juniors who will play, and play a lot.
Kitts and Watkins flip-flopped at forward throughout the year, Kitts mostly helming the starting role but still playing well when she didn’t. As Staley said on the occasions that Kitts didn’t start, it wasn’t for anything she wasn’t doing; it was for everything that Watkins was doing, but in every case, the two combined to form a lethal paint presence.
If the Gamecocks do not pursue a true center to replace Cardoso in the portal — it’s open until May 1, and some notable posts are in it, albeit with “do not contact” tags (usually meaning they already know where they’re going) — Kitts and Watkins stand to benefit the most. They’ll be the most experienced and ready to play major minutes down low, especially with Tac coming off an injury and Edwards, the 6-foot-2 phenom, toting a bucket of awards with her from high school but also needing to be eased in.
Sophomores
Tessa Johnson and MiLaysia Fulwiley will be back after being the keys to reversing Iowa’s early lead in the title game. Johnson scored a career-best 19 points while Fulwiley, as she does, turned the Hawkeyes inside-out with her dizzying array of speedy moves.
They’ll be integral, the “starter” tag a necessity but nearly meaningless. Fulwiley only started three games all season and was still second on the team in points per game.
Freshmen
Tac has been around for a half a season and everyone knows about Edwards, from nearby Camden. McDaniel, from Maryland, was rated the No. 12 prospect in this year’s class and is a point guard.
Just from a position standpoint, minutes may be hard to come by for McDaniel. Raven Johnson and Paopao effortlessly traded the role back and forth all season, while Fulwiley’s a natural point guard, albeit it at a much quicker pace. But the strength of this year’s team was how everyone was satisfied with their roles, and after 2024-25, at least one spot will open with Paopao’s eligibility exhausted.
The Gamecocks have 12 of their 15 scholarships filled for next year. Staley has always preferred not to carry the full load — making exceptions during the COVID-affected seasons — but would also never turn down anyone that could help USC.
It’s likely USC adds one from the portal, perhaps two if Walker doesn’t return. The need is a post, and at this point, the Gamecocks are a desired landing spot for any transfer.
Paopao, who chose USC out of the portal last year, said she had to listen to USC's pitch, because not doing so would be weird. There are many others who feel the same, should Staley contact them.
