South Carolina WBB finishes No. 1, and they’re expected to start there next season
The South Carolina women’s basketball team is coming off its second national championship and is a good bet to be the favorites to do it again next season.
ESPN and The Athletic have the Gamecocks as No. 1 in their “way too early” polls for the 2022-23 season that were released this week. The Gamecocks defeated Connecticut 64-49 on Sunday to win the national title.
USC was the 12th team in NCAA history to start the season and finish the year on top. The Gamecocks finished No 1 in USA Today Coaches poll on Monday. They were wire-to-wire No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25, which publishes its final ranking before the NCAA tournament.
Coach Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks have a strong nucleus back for next year that includes unanimous national player of the year Aliyah Boston.
Zia Cooke and Brea Beal will be return, and USC should have a healthy Raven Johnson, who missed most of her freshman season after tearing her ACL.
“Having the national player of the year in Boston back would be a good enough foundation for most teams, but all of her classmates are also set to return. Zia Cooke, Brea Beal and Laeticia Amihere give the Gamecocks essentially the same cast that won the national championship,” ESPN wrote. “If Raven Johnson returns healthy from a torn ACL, Dawn Staley will also have her at point guard to replace Destanni Henderson. Saniya Rivers and Sania Feagin should improve on their first season in Columbia, and 6-foot-7 Kamilla Cardoso is still a defensive force. In other words, South Carolina is still loaded with talent.”
Other Final Four teams from this year, UConn and Stanford, are ranked No. 2 and 3 behind the Gamecocks. Louisville is No. 13.
Tennessee is the only other SEC team in ESPN’s early poll at No. 8.
