French recruit Alicia Tournebize signs with South Carolina, Dawn Staley
Dawn Staley and the No. 3 South Carolina women’s basketball team have signed an intriguing international recruit.
French prospect Alicia Tournebize has signed with the Gamecocks, South Carolina announced Monday. Tournebize plans to enroll following USC’s holiday break and will join the team and play this season for the Gamecocks.
Adding the 6-foot-7 Tournebize (pronounced TOR-nah-beez) brings South Carolina’s roster to 11 healthy players and immediately improves the Gamecocks’ post depth.
Tournebize, who is 18 years old, is the second player of French descent to ever join the South Carolina women’s basketball program. The first was forward Wilka Montout a junior college transfer who played for the Gamecocks from 2012-14. Tournebize is the first player to join USC straight from France.
“Alicia has an incredible skill set and basketball IQ,” Staley said through a team announcement. “She has great touch around the rim, can shoot it out to the 3-point line and is a shot blocker. We’re excited that she and her family chose to bring her game to Columbia, and the FAMS are going to enjoy what she adds to our team on the court and off.”
The forward most recently played professionally in the Tango Bourges Basket of the EuroLeague Women in France. The French squad on Monday announced via social media that Tournebize had left the team midseason. She averaged 2.4 points, 1.9 rebounds and just under one assist in 7.6 minutes across eight games this season.
Tournebize has a wide-ranging skill set, including the ability to dunk.
She averaged nearly a double-double (12.1 points and 8.9 rebounds) in seven games for the French national team at the 2025 FIBA U18 Women’s EuroBasket event. Tournebize averaged 3.3 points and 1.8 rebounds per game in the 2024 FIBA U17 Women’s Basketball World Cup.
Tournebize took an official visit to South Carolina in late November. She was on the sidelines of USC’s football game against Coastal Carolina and behind the Gamecocks’ bench when South Carolina WBB played Queens the next day. USC beat out Kentucky for Tournebize’s talents. She reportedly took an official visit with the Wildcats prior to her visit with the Gamecocks.
What it means for the Gamecocks
Tournebize’s decision to enroll early is a big boost for South Carolina.
The Gamecocks have four healthy forwards on the roster in Madina Okot, Joyce Edwards, Adhel Tac and Maryam Dauda. Okot and Edwards have excelled in the starting lineup for the Gamecocks.
Edwards is leading the team with 22 points per game, while Okot is averaging a double-double with 15.6 points and an SEC-leading 11.1 rebounds per game. Tac and Dauda’s production off the bench has been inconsistent. They’re both averaging just over three points and four rebounds per game, so adding Tournebize immediately gives Staley another body to rotate into the post off the bench .
This isn’t the first time Staley and the Gamecocks have had new talent join the team mid-year. Chloe Kitts signed in November 2022 and made her first appearance with South Carolina a month later against Charleston Southern in December. Kitts played in 18 games her freshman season and averaged 6.9 minutes per game.
Other recent early enrollees didn’t play right away because of injuries. Notable examples are forward Laeticia Amihere and Adhel Tac, who both joined the team early and redshirted while rehabbing from injuries.
This story was originally published December 22, 2025 at 12:29 PM.
