How Dawn Staley, USC went to France and convinced Alicia Tournebize to be a Gamecock
A simple social media post in October let the world know Dawn Staley was dipping South Carolina’s proverbial recruiting toe into international waters.
The picture Staley posted was zoomed in and relatively blurry. All you could make out was the anonymous players shoes: pink Nike A’Ones, former Gamecock great A’ja Wilson’s signature shoe. Staley’s caption provided another clue: “Currently checking out a recruit somewhere near Paris but not in Paris ... and would you look at what’s on her feet!”
About a month later, Staley dropped another hint.
After South Carolina’s season opening win against Grand Canyon, Staley was asked about the Gamecocks returning to Paris to open the 2026-27 season. Her response to the question ended with her smiling and saying she hoped “we have a French player on our roster to take home.”
By the end of the month, the mysterious French recruit finally had been identified as none other than Alicia Tournebize.
The 6-foot-7 forward stood out on the sideline at Williams-Brice Stadium for South Carolina’s football game vs Coastal Carolina. The next day she sat behind the Gamecocks’ bench while Staley and her squad beat Queens in an exhibition game and was greeted with “We want Alicia!” chants from the crowd in Colonial Life Arena.
Come December, those Gamecock fans got an early Christmas present. South Carolina announced Tournebize had signed with USC and would enroll in January.
“Since I was a kid I had the dream, the idea to maybe come one day to the States,” Tournebize told The State. “So when I had the opportunity, and I talked with Coach, I wanted to come here.”
Gamecocks coach gets a tip from a friend
Although recruiting at South Carolina is an “all-hands-on-deck” approach, associate head coach Lisa Boyer played an instrumental role in recruiting Tournebize.
Boyer, Staley’s long-time assistant, heard from a friend about Tournebize last summer, and she was immediately captivated by her skills.
“We started looking her up and of course, she’s pretty amazing,” Boyer told The State. “... We got on the internet, we saw all kinds of clips. The first one that comes up is that two-hand dunk. Pretty impressive. She’s got really good touch. She’s got great form. She knows how to play the game. She’s been well-honed by her mom and the French national team.”
A coaching staff in a recruitment has to typically earn the trust of the player and their support system. Boyer built a strong connection with Tournebize’s mom, Isabelle Fijalkowski, who was a basketball star at Colorado and played professionally in the WNBA and overseas. Fijalkowski will be inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in June.
There wasn’t much of a language barrier between the two parties, but the time difference was a hurdle, Boyer said. Coupled with the fact Tournebize wasn’t living at home — she was two hours away with her pro team Tango Bourges Basket — and it made the process of recruiting Tournebize slightly more challenging than the average American prospect.
“She was with the professional team. So she had a schedule, and she was doing things,” Boyer said. “From our end, we were trying to get over there to see her, because at that point we didn’t think we were gonna get her until April or May, until whenever her season ended.”
Fijalkowski always intended for Tournebize to come play collegiate basketball in the United States, Boyer said. Her time with Tango Bourges was intended to be a gap year of sorts after high school.
Tournebize averaged 7.4 minutes of play in seven games for Tango Bourges. The limited playing time sped up the timeline of getting Tournebize to the United States.
“As her season went along, she probably was not getting as much burn as she wanted to,” Boyer said. “So they decided, somewhere in November, that she was going to come over and take visits.”
Visit to South Carolina seals the deal
In October, Boyer and Staley took a quick trip to France to watch Tournebize play. Yes, that’s the trip that spawned the social media post of Tournebize’s shoes.
But Tournebize wound up not playing that day. So the two coaches essentially flew to Paris, watched Tournebize warm up, then flew back to Columbia. It sounds like it would be for nothing, but Boyer didn’t see it that way.
“The point is that she knew that we were obviously very interested to come over there and see her,” Boyer said. “It was like less than a 32-hour trip, but well worth it. The more we talked to her and to her mother, the more of a relationship you get.”
In November, Tournebize took an official visit to South Carolina shortly after a trip to Kentucky. USC senior forward Maryam Dauda, who was Tournebize’s host for the visit, said the Gamecocks connected with the Frenchwoman right away.
“The coaches were like, ‘Oh yeah, we have this player coming in, she’s 6-foot-7.’ And I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, another big post player. I’m so excited,’” Dauda said. “... We kept asking her, ‘How does the visit compare to Kentucky?’ And she was like, ‘Well, it’s about the same thing, but I just want to win, and I want to win championships, and I want to compete.’ And we’re like, if you want that, then here would be the perfect place for you.”
Tournebize said her official visit to South Carolina played a crucial role in her commitment decision.
“Coming from another country, another continent, I was like, I need to see how it really is here, and meet people, talk to them in real life,” Tournebize said. “It was very important to me to see. I’m glad I came for the visit. I’m glad I’m here now.”
Getting Tournebize to Columbia early
South Carolina had something it could offer Tournebize that her pro club in France couldn’t: immediate playing time.
The Gamecocks came into the season with just 10 healthy players on the roster after Ashlyn Watkins took the year off from basketball and Chloe Kitts tore an ACL. That left South Carolina’s post depth depleted. Combine that with other injuries in the first few months of the season, and there were a few games South Carolina went into with just eight available players.
“I told her, she’ll definitely play for us,” Staley told The State. “It won’t be like she’ll just come sit on the bench. That’s when things start escalating a little bit.”
It’s safe to say Staley’s pitch of being able to come in and start developing immediately worked. Even if it hadn’t, that wouldn’t have deterred South Carolina from recruiting Tournebize, Boyer said.
South Carolina guard Agot Makeer was ecstatic when she learned that Tournebize decided to sign with USC and enroll early.
“We wanted her really bad,” Makeer said. “We were at a point where we didn’t know who we were gonna have on the court, just with injuries and stuff. So having her come here 6-foot-7, can dunk and everything — can shoot too. I think it’s been really cool.”
Enrolling Tournebize at USC had a few extra steps than the usual early enrollee. South Carolina announced she signed on Dec. 22, and she arrived in Columbia on Jan. 1. The time between her arrival and eventual debut vs Texas on Jan. 15 was filled with getting visas and other paperwork sorted out while also ramping her up on the court.
“She was at practice, she was watching, she was listening,” Boyer said. “She’s a really smart kid. She remembers stuff, we threw a lot at her. This team has been together since June — think of all the plays and stuff we’ve put in. ... She’s a very intuitive kid when it comes to the game.”
The early returns are positive
Moving to the other side of the globe was likely hard for Tournebize, but from an outside perspective, you’d never know it. She’s drawn constant praise from coaches and teammates for how she’s handled the adjustment.
Tournebize’s prior experience playing basketball away from her home has helped some with the transition, she said.
“Since I was in high school, I’m not at home, I’ve been playing basketball away from home,” Tournebize said. “Obviously, I’m way further now, it’s not the same thing ... but I’m used to already experiencing this.”
South Carolina point guard Maddy McDaniel said Tournebize has improved on the court and has meshed well with the team off the court. She joked that Makeer has “Americanized” Tournebize.
“On the court, she’s getting way stronger,” McDaniel said. “She’s slowing the game down for herself. She’s able to see more. She’s crashing the boards hard. She’s just playing harder, more aggressive. Off the court, she’s getting very Americanized. It’s crazy. By the day, she’s learning new words. She’s using slang, stuff like that. It’s crazy, but it’s good to see. It’s a cool thing.”
Tournebize has played in 17 games for South Carolina. She’s averaging 4.3 points and 3.2 rebounds in 12.6 minutes per contest. The forward has seen her playing time increase a bit during the postseason.
And her role off the bench could be a difference-maker during March Madness.
“I’m very excited,” Tournebize said of playing in the NCAA Tournament. “I was seeing the tournament from the outside and all the excitement around it. So now, being inside [the tournament] I’m really, really excited to play the games.”
