Could Madina Okot get another year at USC? What Dawn Staley says about it
South Carolina center Madina Okot is in her second year of college basketball in the United States and just five games into her first season with the Gamecocks.
Okot played two years of college ball at Zetech University in Kenya before making her NCAA debut with Mississippi State last season.
Okot is listed as a senior, but is there a world in which she’s able to play for the Gamecocks for another year?
It’s not entirely out of the question.
“We’re gonna fight like heck,” Dawn Staley said when asked Wednesday if Okot could return next year.
Since Okot is a senior, Staley and the Gamecocks would have to appeal for a waiver that would grant an extra year of eligibility. Actually getting a waiver is the hard part.
The length and success rate of the waiver process vary. Just look at South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer, who had to wait nearly nine months for running back Rahsul Faison to be granted an extra year of eligibility this season.
“It’s an interesting situation with her, but I think it’s worth fighting,” Staley said.
Staley’s brief comments after the Gamecocks’ 106-56 win over Winthrop weren’t exactly an absolute declaration that USC plans to attempt to get Okot extra eligibility. But it provides, if anything, an inkling that South Carolina is at least considering that avenue.
Okot is averaging a double-double through five games with the Gamecocks. She’s putting up 13.2 points and 10.6 rebounds per game. Okot tallied a season-high 23 points against Winthrop and added 11 rebounds for her third double-double of the year.
Staley went as far to say that if the Gamecocks could get Okot back for another year, she expects her to be a “definite” top five pick in the WNBA Draft.
“We need Madina to be dominant,” Staley said Wednesday. “...We need dominance on her part every time she steps on the floor. And I think she’s just getting more and more comfortable. And I think there’s just a little bit more structure out there to where she knows where she needs to be. And she’s getting just more comfortable.
“I like her rebounding the basketball, I like her being efficient, I like her taking shots and being aggressive. And she’s going to have to be that on Sunday and into next week.”
