Need your USC WBB social media fix? Look no further than Alex English’s Twitter
Reaching the NBA is enough to qualify anyone to talk basketball.
Being the all-time leading scorer of the Denver Nuggets between 1976 and 2021, a time period that also included Carmelo Anthony, even further solidifies that case.
So when University of South Carolina graduate and WNBA agent Jade-Li English encouraged her father — Gamecocks and Nuggets small forward great Alex English — to start live-tweeting South Carolina basketball games, it made perfect sense.
“My daughter kind of pushed me and said, ‘You give your thoughts. Share it with the people,’ ” the Columbia native recalled. “And so, I do.”
If you can’t get to a TV or stream a Gamecocks basketball game — men or women — Alex English, whose Twitter handle is @AlexEnglish_2, has you covered with his analysis of what’s going on. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee doesn’t engage too much with those who respond, knowing that can sometimes go south quickly on social media. His tweets might be as simple as “Zia Cooke is ready” or a more in-depth look at what’s happening in the game.
“Ole Miss has changed their defense to a press back to zone hoping to force shots from the outside. Packing the play to stop Boston inside. Making outside jumpshots will force them back to man to man defense,” English tweeted during the SEC women’s basketball tournament on March 5.
A day later on Twitter, he reaffirmed his loyalty to and trust in head coach Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks (29-2). The squad fell to Kentucky on a last-second shot, 64-62 for the conference tournament championship. As much as it hurts not to have another SEC title under their belts, English believes good will come from the loss.
“It wakes them up a little bit and (makes them) realize it is a very intense game,” English, a USC board of trustees member, told The State. “You’ve got to be focused the whole time that you’re out on the floor. You can’t just be focused for five, six minutes, but every second you’re on the floor. You’ve got to be concentrated and focused on what you’re doing out there and what’s going on. That game proved it.”
English and South Carolina’s squad now turn their attentions to the NCAA tournament, where the Gamecocks will play either Howard or Incarnate Word on Friday. The SEC had four teams ranked in the final regular season AP Top 25, with the Gamecocks remaining in the top spot and earning the No. 1 seed heading into the NCAAs. Seven other teams from the conference made the Big Dance.
The Greensboro region won’t do the Gamecocks any favors. Iowa State, Iowa, North Carolina and Arizona, among others, fill out the bracket with some shockers and upsets sure to come. Still, English, who’s planning to attend the games in person, has the Gamecocks hoisting the national championship trophy when it’s all said and done.
Two of the biggest factors for that outcome are the team’s defense and junior forward Aliyah Boston, who is currently in the process of setting a new SEC record for most consecutive double-doubles. The Virgin Islands native broke the record of 19, set by former LSU standout Sylvia Fowles, with 16 points and 10 rebounds in an 89-48 win at Texas A&M on Feb. 24. She’s currently at 23 straight double-doubles.
English contends Boston isn’t “in the running” for the National Player of the Year. The award is already hers.
“She goes out and just gives them the type of energy that you have to have, that winners have every game on both ends of the floor,” he said. “She’s a shot blocker, she’s a rebounder, she’s a scorer. She’s an intimidator, and she’s a motivator. To me, there’s no question about who is the best player in the country and who’s the college MVP.”
Once March Madness picks up, Boston and the Gamecocks will be looking to add some hardware to their collection after winning the program’s first national title five years ago.
This story was originally published March 16, 2022 at 7:40 AM.
