She didn’t start for USC as a touted freshman. Now ‘she wants some of those minutes’
South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley put together a historically great recruiting class in 2019, ranked No. 1 in the country with four five-star prospects all ranked in the top 15 by ESPN. And that group made an immediate impact for the Gamecocks, with three of those players starting every game of the 2019-20 season to power USC to a No. 1 ranking.
But that instant success left one five-star on the bench — forward Laeticia Amihere. Once ranked as high as No. 2 overall in the 2019 class and a viral phenomenon in high school because of her dunking ability, Amihere didn’t have a bad freshman season. She just wasn’t as impactful as her classmates, averaging 4.9 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.14 blocks on 13 minutes per game.
Some of that was due to her recovery from two major knee injuries in high school — after enrolling early at USC following the second injury, she rehabbed for months and had to play with a knee brace the entire season. And she also missed some time competing with the Canadian national team in February.
With Team Canada now qualified for the Olympics in June and the brace completely gone, Amihere is poised to emerge as a key contributor, Staley said, even if last year’s results left her forgotten in the minds of some observers.
“People probably looked at Laeticia last year and probably looked at me and said why do I play her so much when she’s probably not performing as much as we need,” Staley told reporters at the beginning of preseason practices. “I didn’t want her to have another freshman year this year. Because she got game experience, she understands and it won’t be her first time doing it when we play again. I’m quite sure she’s looking at (junior Victaria Saxton) and she’s looking at Aliyah (Boston) and she wants some of those minutes that they got last year. It’s a very healthy thing.”
Boston herself has also noted that Amihere, or “LA” as her teammates call her, stepped up in offseason and competed well, bringing a “dog mentality” to practice.
At 6-foot-4 with a 6-foot-10 wingspan, Amihere’s physical tools are unquestioned. Her reach alone made her a shot-blocking threat last season, to the tune of a 7.4% block rate, 88th in the nation per Her Hoop Stats. But she also flashed upside as an outside threat too, shooting 7-of-13 on 3-pointers and showing good form on mid-range jumpers.
That kind of skill set would help her seamlessly fill in for the recently graduated Mikiah Herbert Harrigan, who could defend multiple positions and hold her own on the interior while also featuring a consistent mid-range game to keep the Gamecocks well-spaced and the paint less crowded for Boston.
But if Amihere is to take that next step, she’ll have to stay out of foul trouble — she ranked in the bottom 6% of all Division I players last year in foul rate, per Her Hoop Stats, averaging a whistle about every 6:25 she was on the floor.
How much progress Amihere has made over the offseason could have significant implications for South Carolina’s starting lineup. With Herbert Harrigan gone, Saxton and Amihere are the most likely candidates to take her spot in the starting five. The two put up striking similar numbers last season in terms of scoring, rebounding and minutes per game.
South Carolina opens it 2020-21 season at noon Wednesday at home against the College of Charleston.
This story was originally published November 18, 2020 at 2:11 PM.
