Gamecocks WBB roster is changing. Let’s project who starts next season
——Editors note: This story was originally published on Wednesday, April 9 but has been updated to reflect Friday’s news that MiLaysia Fulwiley intends to enter the transfer portal.——
The 2024-25 women’s basketball season came to a close Sunday with South Carolina’s defeat in the national championship game at the hands of UConn.
Just because the season ended doesn’t mean the drama stopped.
USC coach Dawn Staley got straight to work and picked up her first commitment from a transfer portal player.
Florida State transfer Ta’Niya Latson, the nation’s leading scorer and someone who was widely regarded as one of the top players in the portal, announced her commitment to South Carolina on Tuesday afternoon.
No less than 10 minutes later Raven Johnson, a high school teammate of Latson, announced she would use her final year of eligibility and return to South Carolina.
Their decisions prompted both joy and speculation. Fans of the Gamecocks (and other teams, for that matter) rushed to social media to project what South Carolina’s starting lineup might look like. Most notably, where exactly will MiLaysia Fulwiley fit in for her junior season?
That question was answered Friday afternoon when news broke that Fulwiley plans to enter the transfer portal. The move completely alters how South Carolina’s guard room could look.
The State also considered the look of next year’s lineup. But first, let’s take a quick look at what South Carolina’s roster should look like.
Projected Gamecocks 2025-26 roster
As of Friday afternoon (April 11)
Expected to return: guards Raven Johnson, Tessa Johnson and Maddy McDaniel, and forwards Joyce Edwards, Chloe Kitts, Ashlyn Watkins, Maryam Dauda and Adhel Tac
Transfer commitments: guard Ta’Niya Latson
Incoming freshman: wings Ayla McDowell (signed) and Agot Makeer (committed)
Players transferring out: forward Sakima Walker, guard MiLaysia Fulwiley
Let’s assume Staley will run with a three-guard, two-forward lineup with Chloe Kitts and Joyce Edwards as the starting forwards.
Things will get interesting at the forward spots with the eventual return of Ashlyn Watkins from injury — and any other additions from the portal — but we’re only focusing on the guard spots today.
Here are quick two options Staley might consider:
▪ Option No. 1:
- Starters: Raven Johson, Ta’Niya Latson, Tessa Johnson
- Off the bench: Maddy McDaniel, Ayla McDowell and Agot Makeer
▪ Option No. 2:
- Starters: Raven Johnson, Ta’Niya Latson, Maddy McDaniel
- Off the bench: Tessa Johnson, Ayla McDowell and Agot Makeer
Option No. 3:
- Starters: Raven Johnson, Ta’Niya Latson, portal player
- Off the bench: Tessa Johnson, Maddy McDaniel, Ayla McDowell and Agot Makeer
Weighing Dawn Staley’s options
When this story was originally published, the question was essentially: Which one of South Carolina’s soon-to-be juniors is going to come off the bench?
With Fulwiley entering the portal, that question doesn’t really matter anymore.
Option one, though now slightly altered, still makes the most sense: combine the scoring talent of Latson with Tessa Johnson’s overall offensive capabilities with Raven Johnson’s defense and experience and you’re set.
After two seasons coming off the bench Tessa Johnson would bring her talents to the starting lineup. She averaged a career-high 21.2 minutes per game this season, No. 6 on the team behind four starters and Joyce Edwards.
Tessa Johnson averaged 8.4 points this year and led the team with a 43% clip from 3-point range. She showed flashes of improvement on defense this season and at 6-foot-1 could fill a similar “big guard” role that Bree Hall did in the starting lineup the last two years.
The general assumption with these set of options is that Latson, who led the country in scoring this year with 25.2 points per game, will start. After all, why bring in the best scorer in the country just to have her come off the bench?
Prior to Fulwiley’s transfer becoming a reality, the case of Raven Johnson was compelling. Her offensive production dipped this season (down from 8.1 points to 4.9) but she’s an All-SEC level defender with the experience needed to lead on the court. Staley typically goes with experience in the starting lineup, so moving Johnson to the bench feels like it wouldn’t happen unless she volunteered to do so herself.
With Fulwiley gone, the idea of Raven Johnson coming off the bench becomes even more far-fetched.
Soon-to-be sophomore Maddy McDaniel, who fans on social media lobbied should transfer for more playing time (so hard that her parents had to step in and quell the rumors), now looks like primed to get just that. She likely won’t start, but there’s always a shot it could happen. Staley has praised McDaniel’s ability to get to the rim on offense and thinks the she has a bright future. McDaniel averaged 11 minutes in 30 appearances this season and scored 3.1 points per game.
There’s also the chance Staley could go to the transfer portal to find a starting caliber guard. Earlier this week On3 reported that transfer Utah guard Gianna Kneepkens was visiting South Carolina. Kneepkens was an All-Big 12 player this season, averaged 19.3 points per game and led the Big 12 with an effective field goal percentage of 62.7%. The possibility of Staley going to the portal for a third starting guard in option three seems more likely than Staley starting a freshman, though it’s never 100% unlikely.
It’s admittedly way too early to be projecting Staley’s rotation because the transfer portal is still open for another few weeks. Addition and subtraction to the roster could still be made, but options one and two seem like the most likely of what fans will see on the court in Colonial Life Arena next season.
This story was originally published April 9, 2025 at 10:03 AM.
