How Dawn Staley, Gamecocks are already preparing for next season’s roster rebuild
The South Carolina women’s basketball team is in the Final Four with its sights set on a national championship and perfect season. No matter what happens this weekend, next season’s team stands to look quite different.
The Gamecocks (36-0) have seven seniors on the roster. Super seniors Kierra Fletcher and Victaria Saxton are out of eligibility.
The five other seniors — Aliyah Boston, Zia Cooke, Brea Beal, Laeticia Amihere and Olivia Thompson — technically can come back for a fifth year, but head coach Dawn Staley isn’t necessarily expecting them to.
Conversations have already started with the seniors who could potentially return.
“I’m just gonna let them decide when they want to disclose what they’re going to do,” Staley said. “For me, I’m planning on not having them. I have to plan on not having them. So we’ll have to jump in that (transfer) portal, regardless.”
Those five seniors were all part of the Gamecocks’ heralded 2019 recruiting class. They could play one more year of college basketball thanks to an extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA because of the COVID pandemic.
“Regardless if we have some come back, or all of them leave, or all of them stay, we’re still in a position where we must continue to recruit, just in case,” Staley said.
South Carolina faces Iowa at 9 p.m. Friday (ESPN) at American Airlines Arena in Dallas. The winner advances to Sunday’s national championship game.
The USC players with WNBA aspirations — Boston is widely projected as the No. 1 pick — won’t have long to declare for the pro draft.
According to ESPN, players at this stage of the NCAA Tournament have 48 hours at the conclusion of their last game to declare for the draft. Should the Gamecocks advance to Sunday’s national championship game, that pro declaration deadline would be Tuesday.
There are three rounds and 36 total picks in April 10’s WNBA Draft. The league has 12 teams with 11 or 12 players on the roster.
“I think all of our seniors have put themselves in a position to be drafted,” Staley said. “Whether or not they make a team, that’s really not my call. I know there aren’t a lot of roster spots this particular year in the WNBA.”
The element of name, image and likeness — or NIL — gives players the ability to make money in college, which could be an attractive option with WNBA roster spots being limited.
According to Her Hoop Stats, first-round picks in the 2023 draft are expected to make an annual salary between $68,295 and 74,305. A second-round pick would make $65,290, and third-round picks and undrafted players would make $62,285.
“We are constantly feeding them with information that will help them make that decision to go or to stay,” Staley said. “I’m sure they’re talking to their agents and their representatives about what makes the best sense for them.”
Meanwhile, the transfer portal has had a bigger impact on college basketball in recent years. Players can transfer to another school and play right away — a change from previous rules that required a player to sit out a year.
The Gamecocks lost four players to the transfer portal a year ago.
Staley used the portal to add Fletcher last offseason and Kamilla Cardoso the year before that. Fletcher came in from Georgia Tech and gave USC an experienced player at point guard. The team brought in Cardoso in 2021 after her lone season at Syracuse.
“I think the transfer portal has allowed programs to grow instantly,” Staley said, “especially if you have a coach that really has an understanding of how to move young people. You have to have a culture that allows some restrictions, so to speak, and then some freedom. And you have to balance that because you’re bringing in different pieces to your program that can make the huge jump.”
South Carolina will add high school signees Milaysia Fulwiley, Tessa Johnson and Sahnya Jah for next season as part of its 2023 recruiting class. If all seven seniors leave, the Gamecocks will have four open scholarship spots.
Outside of potential veterans USC finds in the portal, next year’s roster will look much younger. And any addition would be a new face learning a new system.
While Staley and her staff are helping the senior Gamecocks stay informed, Staley said she isn’t looking to influence the final decision.
“I’m not going to sway them,” Staley said. “I’m not going to try to convince them to come back. I think what we’ve done here in South Carolina is put them in a great position to be drafted. And that’s our job.”
This story was originally published March 30, 2023 at 7:00 AM.
