South Carolina women’s basketball could address these needs in the transfer portal
All seven seniors are officially gone from the South Carolina women’s basketball team.
Aliyah Boston, Zia Cooke, Brea Beal and Laeticia Amihere all declared for the WNBA Draft after the team’s Final Four loss to Iowa. Olivia Thompson posted her own farewell message.
Kierra Fletcher and Victaria Saxton used the last of their college eligibility in the 2022-23 season.
South Carolina will bring in three freshmen next season. Milaysia Fulwiley, Tessa Johnson and Sahnya Jah are members of USC’s 2023 recruiting class. Chloe Kitts was originally among this group, but she joined the team mid-season.
The team technically has room for five more scholarship players on its roster. This year’s transfer portal window is open until May 11. Dawn Staley said in March that the coaching staff will look to utilize the portal for team needs.
Here are the different positions the Gamecocks could target in the transfer portal.
A SCORER ON THE WING
Cooke was South Carolina’s leading scorer and was known for her ability to remain aggressive on offense.
With her departure, the Gamecocks could use another scorer in the lineup. No one on the current roster averaged double-digit scoring. Kamilla Cardoso averaged 13.6 points as a freshman at Syracuse, and averaged 9.8 points per game off the bench at USC this season.
Bree Hall is most likely the starter on the wing. She was one of South Carolina’s better shooters this season and led the team in scoring on two separate occasions. Hall showed growth as a sophomore, finding ways to get more involved in the offense as the season went along.
Kitts played sparingly once conference play started but was a highly touted recruit coming out of high school. Her development could play dividends as she heads into next season with some playing experience under her belt.
Tessa Johnson is known for her outside shooting ability, and Jah brings her athleticism to the table, but neither has played against collegiate defenses.
Of course, a numbers increase is expected from some of this season’s key reserves, such as Hall and Cardoso. But an offensive perimeter threat would go a long way for the Gamecocks.
LEGITIMATE DEFENSIVE PRESENCE
South Carolina lost its most elite defenders — Boston, Beal and Amihere — to the WNBA Draft. Boston won the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award for the second season in a row, and Beal was one of the four finalists for the award.
The Gamecocks pride themselves on their defensive abilities, as it’s a point of emphasis for a Staley-coached team. There are certainly capable defenders on the existing roster, but none quite at the caliber of the departing players.
Raven Johnson returns as South Carolina’s leader in steals. Cardoso averaged 1.9 blocks per game.
But a one-on-one defensive stopper could be a big addition for USC as the returning players develop on that end of the court.
USC had the fourth-best scoring defense in the country by the end of the season, allowing just 51.8.
EXPERIENCE AT POINT GUARD
Redshirt sophomore Raven Johnson will likely be the team’s starter at point guard.
She led the team in assists last season while coming off the bench, and she shared minutes with Fletcher throughout the season. Johnson showed improvement and was a key part in the team’s postseason efforts, averaging 4.1 assists in the last eight games of the season.
The depth at that position, though, does not have much experience at the college level.
Staley typically likes to have veteran players in the backcourt, which was a big reason she recruited Fletcher from the portal last year. Cooke and Amihere also took on ball-handling responsibilities.
Talaysia Cooper returns as a sophomore with the ability to play both point guard and shooting guard, though her primary trait in high school was her scoring ability. She scored more than 3,000 points at East Clarendon. Fulwiley, listed at 5-foot-7, will likely see most of her minutes at point guard.
Johnson — a member of the All-SEC Freshman team — missed all but two games in her true freshman year due to a knee injury. As she worked her way back from it throughout this season, she became one of the key members in South Carolina’s Final Four run.
SOUTH CAROLINA WBB 2023-24 ROSTER PROJECTION
Guards
Talaysia Cooper, sophomore
Milaysia Fulwiley, freshman
Raven Johnson, redshirt sophomore
Wings
Bree Hall, junior
Sahnya Jah, freshman
Tessa Johnson, freshman
Chloe Kitts, sophomore
Posts
Kamilla Cardoso, senior
Sania Feagin, junior
Ashlyn Watkins, sophomore
This story was originally published April 8, 2023 at 10:29 AM.
