Dawn Staley shares Gamecocks’ priority for transfer portal recruiting
The NCAA transfer portal opens Monday, and South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley knows what her team needs to add heading into 2026.
She has one particular position in mind.
“Obviously, we’ve got to add some guard play,” Staley said Sunday. “Definitely some lead guard play, some more athleticism in the guard department.”
USC, which lost 79-51 to UCLA in Sunday’s national championship game, is losing two of its three starting guards from this season. That includes fifth-year senior Raven Johnson, the Gamecocks’ starting point guard the last three seasons, a vocal leader and one of the winningest players in program history.
Staley made it clear in her Sunday postgame news conference that while she’s confident in USC’s front-court depth, she plans to pursue at least one transfer portal guard to supplement the Gamecocks’ roster in 2026-27.
South Carolina is also losing senior transfer guard Ta’Niya Latson, who joined USC after three seasons at Florida State and was the team’s second-leading scorer.
The Gamecocks do return guard Tessa Johnson, a rising senior, and guard Maddy McDaniel, a rising junior who Johnson has described as “next up” at the point guard position. But Staley’s comments hinted at USC targeting a high-level transfer who could run the offense, score a lot of points, or both.
“I think our front line is pretty good, especially the ones that are coming back from injury, coming back to our team,” Staley said. “We’ve got to add some guard play.”
Staley has been complimentary of McDaniel, the team’s primary backup point guard this season, and praised her effort in Friday’s Final Four win vs. UConn.
Would McDaniel welcome the opportunity of being USC’s starting point guard?
“Of course, that’s something that I’ll definitely accept,” McDaniel told The State postgame. “Coming here, already I knew what role I was playing and just being able to be ready to fill. When my time comes, I’m ready.”
Staley’s message to incoming and returning players
USC’s returning frontcourt players include redshirt senior Chloe Kitts, who missed the entire season with a torn ACL after emerging as one of the team’s top scorers last year. Kitts opted to return instead of pursuing the WNBA Draft.
South Carolina has excellent returning talent at wing and forward with players like Tessa Johnson, Agot Makeer, Joyce Edwards and Ashlyn Watkins. French center Alicia Tournebize, who joined USC mid-season, is a promising player.
The Gamecocks also bring in three freshmen who rank as top 25 recruits.
Speaking broadly about what South Carolina needs to maintain its elite standard and keep reaching the Final Four and competing for titles, Staley pointed out that Raven Johnson was “the last of the core group of players that had been together that actually had taken our program to the very top.”
“I just think we just need players who are committed to team, committed to getting better as individuals,” Staley said. “Creating pro habits so when they are challenged to perform at a high level, it won’t be something that they wrestle with. It’s a norm.”
The Gamecocks have added at least one transfer portal player the last five offseasons. Last year, Staley quickly identified and landed Latson (FSU) and Okot (Mississippi State). Both transfers were instant-impact players for USC in 2025-26.
This year’s NCAA Division I women’s basketball transfer portal window is open from April 6-20. Undergraduate players must enter the portal during that two-week period, but once they’re in the portal they can commit to a new school at any point.
“I think we do a great job of just keeping things in perspective for our players, creating spaces in which you can handle the truth and also creating spaces in which there’s open communication, what’s good, what’s not good,” Staley said. “We have those type of conversations. We need players that are able to handle those situations because that’s what it takes to get to this point and win.”
The State’s Michael Sauls contributed reporting.
This story was originally published April 5, 2026 at 8:26 PM.
