South Carolina recruit Joyce Edwards helps Gamecocks make push for top-ranked Sarah Strong
With her future at South Carolina secured, Joyce Edwards is going to do her part to help the Gamecocks put the finishing touches on their recruiting class.
Edwards, the Camden star and Hoopgurlz No. 2-ranked player in Class of 2024, is hoping to get forward Sarah Strong of Grace Christian in Sanford, North Carolina to join her on Dawn Staley’s squad. Strong is the top-ranked player in the HoopGurlz rankings for this year’s class.
Edwards and Strong chatted recently as both attended the Gamecocks’ game against UConn on Feb. 11. It was Strong’s first visit to campus and came days after Staley attended one of her games.
During one point in the game, students started chanting, “We want Sarah! We want Sarah!”
“I definitely don’t necessarily want to pressure her into anything, but I am giving her a little nudge,” Edwards said Saturday after Camden’s second-round playoff game. “USC is a great option. ... They are the only team in the NCAA that is undefeated and they are doing their thing right now. I hope they win the natty for sure.
“We just chatted and I am looking forward to playing with her soon in the McDonald’s All-American game and in NIKE Summit.”
Edwards and Strong will be teammates on the East squad in the 2024 McDonald’s All-American game on April 2 in Houston. There has been some speculation Strong could make her decision during the game that will be televised on ESPN.
The two also will be on Team USA’s roster for the NIKE Hoops Summit on April 13 in Oregon. Team USA will go against a team of top women’s players from across the world.
That won’t be the first time Strong and Edwards will be on a court together this season. The two matched up against each other when Camden and Grace Christian met in a girls showcase event at the Chick-fil-A Classic on Dec. 27.
Strong scored 31 points, had 17 rebounds and hit 7-of-10 3-pointers in Grace’s 58-52 win over Camden.
“Nothing she did shocked me. She had open looks from the 3 and got hot off of that,” Edwards said after the game. “She did really good and I can’t hate on her.”
Going into this week, the 6-foot-2 Strong is averaging 20.3 points, 16.7 rebounds and 4.8 assists a game. Grace Christian is 28-0 and will play in the second round of the North Carolina Independent Schools Association playoffs on Tuesday.
“Strong may be the most unique player we have seen in years. She has a powerful game, but a feathery touch. She battles inside for boards, but can create space to pull a 3 off the dribble,” ESPN’s Shane Lafflin wrote of Strong. “Strong can play inside and out, but also facilitates the offense for her teams. She is soft spoken but has a competitive fire while carving out space to own the boards like she owns real estate in the paint. As talented of a scorer as she is, the most impressive thing Strong does is pass.”
Strong is one two players in the Hoopgurlz Top 100 that hasn’t signed or verbally committed yet, the other is 21st-ranked Mackenly Randolph of Sierra Canyon (Calif.). The spring signing period for basketball begins April 17.
In addition to USC, other schools in the mix are UConn, N.C. State, LSU, UCLA, Oregon, North Carolina and Louisville. She has visited USC, UConn, Oregon and LSU.
Strong has ties to the Palmetto State, with her father, Danny Strong, playing at Great Falls High then at N.C. State. He followed that with a 15-year professional career overseas.
Her mother, Allison Feaster, played at Chester High, is the third-leading scorer in state high school basketball history (behind Edwards) before an All-American career at Harvard. Feaster played 10 years in the WNBA and was teammates with Staley when the two were on the Charlotte Sting.
Feaster went to play eight overseas and currently works with the Boston Celtics.
If the Gamecocks can land Strong, it should give them the No. 1 recruiting class in the country. The Gamecocks have signed Edwards, Maddy McDaniel and post player Adhel Tac, and have the No. 2-ranked recruiting class behind Southern Cal, according to ESPN.
Tac is already on campus after an injury cut short her senior season.
This story was originally published February 20, 2024 at 6:00 AM.
