No. 1 on and off the court: Dawn Staley, Gamecocks off to hot start for 2020-21
Everywhere you look these days, the South Carolina women’s basketball team and coach Dawn Staley seem to be No. 1.
One day after ESPN put the Gamecocks atop its way-too-early rankings for the 2020-21 season, USC checked in Tuesday at No. 1 in ESPN’s team recruiting rankings for the class of 2021.
That follows up on the team’s No. 1 ranking to end the 2019-20 season after the coronavirus pandemic canceled the NCAA tournament, as well as the program’s No. 1 recruiting ranking for the class of 2019.
USC starting on top in the 2021 recruiting class was widely expected, as Staley has already secured the commitments of four five-star prospects, all ranked in the top 15 of ESPN’s individual rankings.
Point guard Raven Johnson, out of Atlanta, highlights the group at No. 2 in the class; followed by Wilmington, North Carolina guard Saniya Rivers at No. 3; Ellenwood, Georgia forward Sania Feagin at No. 4; and Dayton, Ohio guard Bree Hall at No. 14.
No other program in the country has more than two five-star commitments in 2021. UConn and Texas are tied with two apiece, and no other program has more than one. The top-ranked player in the class, guard Azzi Fudd, is the lone five-star prospect who remains uncommitted.
Johnson, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Player of the Year and a three-time state champion, is set to join a loaded point guard position for South Carolina — current junior Destanni Henderson was ranked No. 6 overall in the class of 2018, while sophomore Zia Cooke was No. 4 overall in 2019.
Rivers, who stands 6-foot, has twice been named Gatorade Player of the Year in North Carolina, averaging a double-double and more than four steals and assists per game both seasons.
Feagin, the top-ranked frontcourt player in the class, was the Gatorade Player of the Year in Georgia this past season, averaging 17.2 points, 10.4 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game.
Hall is considered a stock-riser in the class, jumping from 26th to 14th overall in the most recent rankings update. At 5-foot-11, she is set to bring defensive versatility and an improved perimeter shot to Carolina.
Based off the current ESPN rankings, the Gamecocks’ class of 2021 could challenge the class of 2019 as the best ever in program history. That 2019 group was considered one of the best assembled in women’s basketball’s recent history, with center Aliyah Boston ranked No. 3, Cooke at No. 4, forward Laeticia Amihere at No. 10 and wing Brea Beal at No. 11.
That freshman group was also key to South Carolina’s run to No. 1 in 2019-20 — Boston, Cooke and Beal all started every game in USC’s 32-1 season, helping push the Gamecocks to a perfect sweep of the SEC regular season and tournament titles. South Carolina was one of the top favorites to win a national championship and was widely expected to be named the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the tourney to be canceled.
The returning core is expected to keep the Gamecocks in the national title conversation this year. The NCAA recently approved a delayed start to the season because of the coronavirus — games can now start on Nov. 25 — and officials have been adamant that a tournament will be played in 2021.
South Carolina has yet to release a schedule for the season.
