South Carolina in Top 5, UCLA not ranked in ESPN’s first WBB Top 25 for next year
The South Carolina women’s basketball team has made it to six straight Final Fours. One national outlet expects that could continue next season.
ESPN has Dawn Staley the Gamecocks ranked No. 3 in its first way-too-early Top 25 for the 2026-27 season, published not long after South Carolina lost Sunday to UCLA 79-51 in the national championship game.
South Carolina will be losing several key pieces from this year’s team, including guards Raven Johnson and Ta’Niya Latson. Mississippi State transfer Madina Okot’s future is up in the air as the Gamecocks look to get a fifth season of eligibility for her.
USC will return all-Southeastern Conference performer Joyce Edwards and get back Chloe Kitts, who missed the year with an ACL injury. The expectation is that forward Ashlyn Watkins should be back after being away from the program this year while recovering from injury.
Tessa Johnson will return for her senior year, and rising sophomore Agot Makeer will look to continue the momentum she had during the Gamecocks’ postseason run. Forward Alicia Tournebize will have a full offseason with the program after transferring in January from France.
South Carolina has signed Kaeli Wynn and Kelsi Andrews, and has a commitment from Jerzy Robinson (who is expected to sign in the coming weeks) from the high-school ranks.
USC coach Dawn Staley said after Sunday’s loss that the team will look to add guard help in the transfer portal, which opens up Monday.
“Last offseason, Dawn Staley hit the portal adeptly and strategically to get Ta’Niya Latson and Madina Okot. Now, they must be replaced. More difficult will be losing the leadership and winning attitude of Raven Johnson. But Joyce Edwards, Tessa Johnson, Maddy McDaniel and Agot Makeer — all top-15 recruits in the past three years — make up a pretty good foundation, with McDaniel expected to assume the full-time point guard role,” ESPN’s Charlie Creme wrote. “Staley will no doubt attract more talent in the portal, too, and if Chloe Kitts and Ashlyn Watkins return healthy, the Gamecocks could be staring at a seventh consecutive Final Four.”
Connecticut, who the Gamecocks defeated in the Final Four, is ESPN’s preseason No. 1. Texas, another Final Four participant, is No. 2. LSU, another SEC team, is ranked No. 4.
Champion UCLA is unranked and is losing seven seniors from the school’s first national title team.
“The Bruins ... have plenty of work to do this offseason,” Creme wrote. “Coach Cori Close has already admitted she and her staff will be active in the transfer portal. But until those results come in, UCLA won’t make the 2026-27 Way-Too-Early rankings.”
This story was originally published April 5, 2026 at 7:53 PM.
