New-look South Carolina WBB team has fresh identity: ‘We’re a scrappy, young group’
After a historic overhaul of her roster, coach Dawn Staley is expecting the unexpected this season.
No Aliyah Boston.
No Zia Cooke.
No Brea Beal.
No Victaria Saxton.
“Obviously, they were mainstays for the last four years, and to not have them is definitely a big void,” Staley said Thursday at the first official South Carolina women’s basketball practice of 2023-24. “But this crew is stepping up. They’re starting to figure some things out.”
She later added, “We start anew and give this team its own identity.”
It feels too early for Staley to describe the identity of this team, with the five new faces and without the beloved stalwart “Freshies.”
But Raven Johnson can.
“I’d say our identity is we’re a scrappy, young group,” the sophomore point guard said. “We’re so scrappy. I think that everybody on this team wants to win. … I’d say we’re a scrappy, young transition team.”
Johnson is one of the Gamecocks’ six returners from the 2022-23 season. She started three games for USC last year, more than any other player on the current roster. No, they don’t have the experience of last year’s team, but this group, as Johnson described it, is “young and turnt.”
Last year didn’t go the way she or any of her teammates wanted it to with a heartbreaking loss to Iowa in the Final Four — after an undefeated regular season. But 2023-24 is Johnson’s “revenge tour.” She and the rest of the team have lofty goals.
“Revenge tour, to me, it’s like an apology to myself from last year because I know I could have done better. We had high expectations,” Johnson said. “To win the national championship. And we didn’t get that expectation. So this year, like I said, it’s fuel to the fire, and it’s a revenge tour to get back to that point and to win the national championship.”
In order to get there, they’ll have to abide by Oregon transfer guard Te-Hina Paopao’s theme of the year: Discipline.
Paopao has been disciplined in the weight room this offseason and in elevating her defense so she can contribute on both ends of the floor. Her 2022-23 three-point shooting percentage of 42.4% and career percentage of 38% fills a consistent outside shooting void for South Carolina, which shot 31% from behind the arc (tied for 168th nationally) and made 4.4 threes per game.
The first Associated Press Top 25 will be released Oct. 17, but the Gamecocks were ranked No. 4 in The Athletic’s preseason poll. They’ll play a home exhibition game Oct. 22 before opening the regular season in Paris on Nov. 6 against Notre Dame.
Four-year starters, like “The Freshies,” are hard to come by. So much is different this year from teams of recent memory. Staley said it’s safe to expect the unexpected, but it’s clear those on the inside still expect greatness.
USC WBB 2023-24 schedule
Oct. 22, vs. Rutgers (exh.), 1 p.m.
Nov. 6, vs Notre Dame (Paris), 1 p.m. (ESPN)
Nov. 12, vs Maryland, 1 p.m. (ABC)
Nov. 16, vs Clemson, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
Nov. 20, South Dakota State, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Nov. 24, Mississippi Valley State, 1 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Nov. 30, at UNC, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Dec. 3, at Duke, 1 p.m. (ABC)
Dec. 6, Morgan State, 7 p.m.(SEC Network Plus)
Dec. 10, vs Utah (Uncasville, Ct.), 2:30 p.m.
Dec. 16, vs Presbyterian, 1 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Dec. 19, at Bowling Green, time TBD
Dec. 30, at East Carolina, time TBD
Jan. 4, at Florida, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
Jan. 7, vs. Mississippi State, 1 p.m. (ESPN)
Jan. 11, at Missouri, 8 p.m.
Jan. 15, vs. Kentucky, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
Jan. 21, at Texas A&M, 5 p.m. (SEC Network)
Jan. 25, at LSU, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
Jan. 28, vs. Vanderbilt, 3 p.m. (SEC Network)
Feb. 1, at Auburn, 8 p.m.
Feb. 4, vs. Ole Miss, 2 p.m. (ESPN2)
Feb. 8, vs. Missouri, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
Feb. 11, vs UConn, 2 p.m. (ESPN)
Feb. 15, at Tennessee, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Feb. 18, vs. Georgia, 2 p.m. (ESPN2 or SEC Network)
Feb. 22, vs. Alabama, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
Feb. 25, at Kentucky, 3 p.m. (SEC Network)
Feb. 29, at Arkansas, 9 p.m. (SEC Network)
Mar. 3, vs. Tennessee, noon (ESPN)
This story was originally published September 28, 2023 at 6:24 PM.
