Editorial: Mitchell, USC seniors helped make Gamecocks elite

UNIVERSITY OF South Carolina coaches, players and fans will officially say thank-you this afternoon to four senior women’s basketball players who have helped build the Gamecocks into an elite national program.

Asia Dozier, Tiffany Mitchell, Tina Roy and Khadijah Sessions make up USC’s most successful senior basketball class ever — men or women. So far, they have won three regular-season SEC championships and one SEC tournament championship. They have advanced to the Women’s Final Four. They have been ranked in the top three in the national polls every week for the past two seasons.

This afternoon, USC has a chance to become only the second SEC women’s program ever to finish a regular season 16-0 in conference games.

While each of the four-year seniors — along with Sarah Imovbioh, a senior who transferred to USC this season — deserves praise for her work and dedication, one clearly stands out. Ms. Mitchell has been the star, leading the Gamecocks to victory again and again with her skill, determination and passion for winning.

Ms. Mitchell is a two-time SEC player of the year. She was a first-team All-American last season and a third-team All-American the year before. She won the Dawn Staley Award as the nation’s best guard last season (more on Ms. Staley later). Ms. Mitchell is the first Gamecock to be named finalist for all three national player of the year awards: the Naismith Trophy, Wooden Award and Wade Trophy.

Maybe more impressive than those awards is how often Ms. Mitchell has delivered for the Gamecocks in the clutch. Time after time, she has spurred South Carolina to victory when the game was close late.

On Thursday night, as USC was wrapping up its 21-point win at Mississippi, one of the ESPN announcers called USC’s superstar “Fourth Quarter” Mitchell. One of her teammates, A’Ja Wilson, has called her “Takeover Tiff.” Ms. Staley, USC’s head coach, calls her Superwoman.

Ms. Staley deserves much credit for her player’s success. Not only has she been the maestro of USC’s rise in women’s basketball, Ms. Staley has molded Ms. Mitchell’s talent and determination. As a youngster, Ms. Mitchell also sought out her future coach as a role model. Ms. Staley was playing for the WNBA’s Charlotte Sting when the third-grade Ms. Mitchell wrote a biography of her. She later requested and received a jersey of Ms. Staley for her 13th birthday.

The coach and player share a passion for hard work, and they both despise losing.

Ms. Mitchell’s success extends off the court as well. She was named to the SEC’s Academic Honor Roll in her junior and sophomore seasons and to the SEC’s First-Year Academic Honor Roll her freshman season.

And while too many college athletes make headlines for off-field or off-court troubles, Ms. Mitchell and her teammates have represented the university and the state with class. A lot of that credit should again go to Ms. Staley, who has aggressively reached out to help the community and to involve it in her program.

Before today’s 2 p.m. game against LSU, South Carolina’s seniors will be presented with framed jerseys, and videos will highlight their accomplishments. While it will be the seniors’ last regular-season game at Colonial Life Arena, they surely will play host to first- and second-round NCAA tournament playoff games next month.

Let’s hope those March games aren’t the last time the seniors are cheered by thousands inside Colonial Life Arena. Let’s hope they’re back in April, with Ms. Mitchell fittingly carrying a national championship trophy. Even if they aren’t, the seniors and their teammates will forever deserve the thanks and admiration of a grateful Gamecock Nation.

This story was originally published February 28, 2016 at 11:01 AM with the headline "Editorial: Mitchell, USC seniors helped make Gamecocks elite."