Former Gamecocks player Talaysia Cooper opens up on transfer portal decision
Around this time two years ago, Talaysia Cooper was wrapping up her freshman season with the South Carolina women’s basketball team.
A lot has changed since then.
Cooper transferred after playing just one season for the Gamecocks. Because of the timing of her transfer, she had to sit out an entire season at her next school. And before she played a minute for Tennessee, her current school, the coach she initially committed to play for got fired. Quite the two-year start, no?
“I’ve had a long journey,” Cooper told The State on Friday.
But it’s all been worth it, she said, to get to where she is now.
After playing minimally for coach Dawn Staley and USC as a freshman, then sitting out the entire 2023-24 season at Tennessee, Cooper has emerged as the leading scorer for a Volunteers team hoping to make a deep NCAA Tournament run.
Tennessee (24-9) is a No. 5 seed in the Birmingham 3 region and plays No. 1 Texas (33-3) in a Sweet 16 game on Saturday in Birmingham (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC).
The Vols are at the same regional site but in a different region than South Carolina, which beat Maryland in a Sweet 16 game at Legacy Arena on Friday.
Running the show for first-year coach Kim Caldwell and the Vols is Cooper, a former McDonald’s All-American at East Clarendon High School.
After spending last year working exclusively with UT’s scout team, Cooper is averaging a team-high 16.8 points and 3.2 steals per game, plus 5.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists to boot. She was named to the All-SEC second team and all-defensive team.
And she’s been even better in the NCAA Tournament. The former Gamecock scored 20 points in Tennessee’s opening round win over USF and racked up 19 points, eight rebounds, seven steals and five rebounds in a round of 32 win over No. 4 Ohio State.
“Just knowing I have my teammates and my coaches by my side, and having a great team that’s continued to get better this season, it’s been fun,” Cooper said.
As for the roundabout path she took to get here?
“Everything happened for a reason,” Cooper said.
Cooper addresses USC transfer
And yes, that includes her lone season at South Carolina in 2022-23, when Cooper appeared in 24 games and averaged eight minutes and 2.9 points per contest.
As a freshman, she admittedly wasn’t a big factor on a veteran-heavy USC team that went 36-1 and lost to Iowa in the Final Four. But Cooper’s stats weren’t out of the ordinary for a freshman on a Staley-led team – countless Gamecocks stars have started their career on the bench. Plus, she flashed more than once.
As such, her transfer in June 2023 came as a shock to many in Columbia.
So, what was her reasoning?
“Coach Staley is a great coach,” Cooper said. “Anybody would wanna play for her.”
But in her specific case, Cooper said, “I just wanted to explore my game. Coach Staley has a system. She has a great system, but sometimes you have to do what’s best for you. And I chose that, and she understood that, and I appreciate her for that.”
She’s already played her former program once this season on Jan. 27, when the Gamecocks traveled to Knoxville to play Cooper and Tennessee. USC won 70-63.
Cooper, a native of Turbeville, SC, said she remains on “good terms” with USC’s players and coaches and still talks with her South Carolina contacts occasionally.
Staley has said the feeling’s mutual.
“I’m happy for Coop,” Staley said in January. “I’m really happy that she found her happy place. ... I think that style of play fits perfectly for her.”
A ‘really special’ season
After she hit the transfer portal, Cooper said finding a new home in the SEC was important to her. It’s the best and most physical conference in the sport, she said.
She thought she found that in Tennessee and former coach Kellie Harper – until Harper was fired in April 2024. The Vols moved quickly to hire Caldwell, who won big at the Division II level and in one season at Marshall with a fast-paced style.
Cooper said she was drawn to Caldwell’s system, which also includes hockey-style substitutions with five players subbing in and five more subbing out.
It’s been a match made in heaven.
“We’ve been on the same page since Day One,” Cooper said of Caldwell.
And it’s been satisfying, Cooper said, to go from sitting out a full year off per NCAA rules – a rarity nowadays, since players can transfer unlimited times within the portal windows and often get hardship waivers – to starring for Tennessee.
“She hadn’t played for a year, and she was nervous about getting back on the floor, and she put a lot of pressure on herself,” Caldwell said. “To see what she’s done this year and how she’s really helped our team in every aspect … It’s been really special.”
This story was originally published March 29, 2025 at 9:00 AM.
