Dawn Staley, South Carolina have picked up four commits lately. Who they might be
Back in the fall of 2018, South Carolina women’s basketball’s recruiting efforts paid off — again and again and again. In a 17-day span, four top prospects committed to Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks.
In the spring of 2020, it seems to be happening again. In 10 days, Staley has posted to social media four times about “birdies flying into the nest” — her customary signal on Twitter that a recruit has committed.
The big difference is that all of the commits from two years ago, who formed the class of 2019, announced their pledges in public ceremonies. This time, the commits have yet to reveal themselves or make their pledges public.
The impact of another big recruiting class would be hard to overstate — the class of 2019 wound up ranked No. 1 in the country by ESPN, with four prospects in the top 15 of the class. Those players played key roles as freshman in helping power South Carolina to a No. 1 ranking and SEC championship this past season.
It’s likely that these four recent commitments are in the class of 2021, meaning they won’t join the Gamecocks until the members of that 2019 class are juniors.
Just for clarity’s sake: Staley not mentioning any commitment’s name is a matter of NCAA rules — coaches cannot publicly discuss any recruits until they sign a National Letter of Intent, and the 2021 class won’t be able to do that until November.
Commits can choose to make their pledges public themselves. Amid the current coronavirus pandemic, it might be impractical or prohibited to do so in a ceremony at their high school, surrounded by friends, teammates and family. And the NCAA has also prohibited all campus visits, official or unofficial, through at least June 30.
The bottom line is a recruit might not want to announce their commitment for a variety of reasons, and the phenomenon of “silent commits” is not new.
All that being said, let’s look at some of the top targets left uncommitted who are known to be considering South Carolina and could be among the committed.
Azzi Fudd
5-foot-11 guard, ranked No. 1 by ESPN
Fudd has been considered the “next big thing” for years now, a generational talent who could become the face of women’s basketball in due time with an all-around skill set, explosive scoring ability and silky shot. She has taken an unofficial visit to South Carolina in the past, but most expect her to land at UConn, where her best friend and No. 1 player in 2020, Paige Bueckers, landed. There’s been little buzz as of late between Fudd and South Carolina, so her being one of the commits would rate as a major shock.
Saniya Rivers
6-foot guard, ranked No. 3 by ESPN
Rivers is a big guard out of Wilmington, North Carolina who averaged an healthy 25 points, 11.8 rebounds 6.4 steals and 4.3 assists per game en route to earning Gatorade Player of the Year honors for the state. The Big Spur has reported that Rivers is one of the commits, citing another coaching staff that said she informed them of her choice. Publicly, Rivers hasn’t announced her choice out of 12 finalists she previously released. Still, Gamecock fans have to like their chances.
Sania Feagin
6-foot-4 forward, ranked No. 6 by ESPN
Long, athletic and capable of handling the ball, Feagin fits the mold of a modern big who can stretch the floor. She averaged 17.2 points, 10.4 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game as a junior and was named the Gatorade Player of the Year for Georgia. On April 30, she released a group of six finalists, including home-state programs in Georgia Tech and Georgia. Louisville and Mississippi State were also included and bring some recent national success, while Ole Miss would likely provide a chance to come in and play significant minutes quickly. But South Carolina has had a lot of success as of late with forwards and posts, and A’ja Wilson has proven to be a helpful recruiting draw.
Raven Johnson
5-foot-8 point guard, ranked No. 13 by ESPN
While Feagin was the Gatorade Player of the Year for Georgia, Johnson was picked as the state’s best player by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. A three-time state champion, she averaged 15 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.3 steals and 3.9 assists per game this past season and plays like a true point guard distributor, coach Hilda Hankerson said, not unlike Gamecock great and recent WNBA draft pick Tyasha Harris. She took several visits to see South Carolina this past year and has been pursued by the Gamecocks for a while now. She hasn’t released a formal list of finalists, but it’s a safe bet USC would be on it, if not at the very top.
Teonni Key
6-foot-3 wing, ranked No. 22 by ESPN
The sister of Tennessee big Tamari Key, Teonni Key is a little smaller and doesn’t bring quite as much girth to the post. But she makes up for it as an athletic prospect with talent off the dribble who can shoot well. She averaged more than 20 points and 13 rebounds per game this past season and is a highly coveted prospect — the top 11 she released back in December included UConn, Notre Dame, Maryland, Tennessee, Mississippi State, Kentucky, N.C. State and UNC, among others. That’s a lot of high-profile programs to go up against, especially two that are in-state and one that already has a built-in family connection, but the Gamecocks aren’t officially out yet.
Aubryanna Hall
6-foot guard, ranked No. 26 by ESPN
Another big guard out of the Midwest, Hall would join current Gamecocks Zia Cooke and Brea Beal as assets in the backcourt, with range on her shot but size to rebound on the weakside and defend the perimeter. She picked up a South Carolina offer back in 2018 and recently named a top 7 on May 10, with the Gamecocks in it alongside Tennessee, N.C. State, Kentucky, Ohio State, Texas and Mississippi State. With Staley’s announcements coming so soon after Hall released that list, she may not be the most obvious pick as one of the commits, but stranger things have happened.
Jillian Hollingshead
6-foot-4 forward, ranked No. 31 by ESPN
Hollingshead’s recruitment has been very low-key, at least publicly, but given how aggressively South Carolina has recruited Georgia, particularly the Atlanta area as of late, she’s a name to at least watch. An All-State selection, Hollingshead brings nice size to the frontcourt, but ESPN’s Dan Olson also raves about her versatility, and she was named one of 18 finalists for the 2019 USA Women’s U16 National Team. She has not released any list of finalists.
This story was originally published May 22, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
