USC, Dawn Staley’s only senior ‘understands everything that we want from her’
Four years ago, South Carolina women’s basketball, fresh off its national championship, welcomed four freshman to campus that made up the nation’s 10th-ranked recruiting class.
Now, with less than a week to go before the 2020-21 season, one of those players remains, the only senior for No. 1 South Carolina and coach Dawn Staley — LeLe Grissett.
Grissett may not start for the Gamecocks this year. She hasn’t been included in any of the early WNBA mock drafts or big boards. But none of that has stopped Staley from talking about the big things she thinks Grissett can do, this season and in the future.
“She’s a senior so she understands everything that we want from her, and then just putting a little bit more on her plate,” Staley said. “I do think LeLe has an opportunity to become a pro. I do believe she’s big, she’s athletic, she has elite athleticism. And she’s got a knack for rebounding and being around the ball, she’s 6-foot-2, she can dribble. But I think teams will look at her. They certainly came up to me last year asking about her.”
Grissett’s journey at USC to becoming a potential pro has taken more than a few twists and turns.
The highest-rated recruit in that 2017 class, she came in as a slightly undersized forward with a high motor and immediately got minutes, even starting a couple games. Her 11-for-12 shooting performance against Vanderbilt for 21 points is still a program record for the highest field goal percentage in an SEC game.
As a sophomore, however, her minutes and scoring output declined slightly. With a crowded rotation all around, she was 10th on the team in playing time, not buried on the depth chart but struggling to stand out. One way she did make an impression on Staley was with her ball-handling — when the Gamecocks struggled with turnovers against press defenses, Staley said Grissett was one of the team’s steadiest players with the ball in her hands.
And sure enough, going into her junior year, Staley made the decision to switch Grissett from forward to guard, a position she said Grissett herself wanted to play when she first came to USC. That move came in the same offseason that two of Grissett’s classmates, LaDazhia Williams and Bianca Jackson, transferred away from the Gamecocks.
Grissett stayed, though, and came through as USC’s second player off the bench during a dream 2019-20 campaign in which South Carolina went 32-1 and finished No. 1 in the country. She led the team in field goal percentage and was second in offensive rebounds, taking to her new position well.
Now, heading into what might be her final year — the NCAA has granted winter sports athletes a free year of eligibility because of the COVID-19 pandemic — Grissett will continue to add to her guard duties, Staley said.
“I think we need to put her in better positions to score. We did play her a little bit, I’m trying to spot her at the point guard position because she can handle the ball, we can run some stuff from her,” Staley said. “And if someone wants to use their smaller point guard on her when we decide to go with a bigger lineup, we have to be able to have her out there, calling the shots. And she’s up for the challenge.”
South Carolina women’s basketball opens its season Wednesday against College of Charleston, tipping off at noon.
This story was originally published November 23, 2020 at 10:45 AM.
