‘Our kids are happy’: Dawn Staley says culture was key to retaining entire roster
It’s become increasingly rare for college sports teams to not lose players to the transfer portal at the end of each season.
Yet, Dawn Staley and the South Carolina women’s basketball team just accomplished that feat.
South Carolina will get all nine players with remaining eligibility back next season. Those players are Maddy McDaniel, Tessa Johnson, Joyce Edwards, Adhel Tac, Chloe Kitts, Ayla McDowell, Alicia Tournebize, Agot Makeer and Ashlyn Watkins.
The Gamecocks were one of 14 teams not to see a single player enter the portal before it closed back in April. South Carolina and UCLA were the lone Power 4 programs to make that happen.
South Carolina has lost an average of just over one player to the transfer portal each year since its inception in 2018. This is the third time Staley hasn’t lost a player to the portal since 2018.
What’s the key to keeping such a talented roster together? It all boils down to culture, Staley told The State at SEC Spring Meetings in Miramar Beach, Florida in late May.
“I think culturally speaking, our kids are happy,” Staley told The State. “Their parents are happy. When you’re in a situation where maybe everything isn’t 100% as you visualized, but when you’re genuinely happy, and when you have a voice, and when you have a path to success, it makes it a little bit easy to stay where you know what’s happening versus trying to go somewhere else and figure things out.”
And why wouldn’t someone be happy to play for South Carolina? In the last six years alone, the Gamecocks have made six consecutive Final Fours, played in four national championship games and won two national titles. South Carolina has a 206-16 (91-5 SEC) record in that time along with four SEC Tournament titles.
Each of the nine returning players will come into the 2026-27 season with national championship playing experience. And three of them — Johnson, Kitts and Watkins — have national championship winning experience.
USC will also bring in five true freshmen this year in five-stars Oliviyah Edwards, Kaeli Wynn and Jerzy Robinson as well as four-stars Kelsi Andrews and Justine Loubens. The Gamecocks also added an All-SEC level player in Texas transfer Jordan Lee.
With so many talented players on the roster, each player has to fight and scrap for playing time on the court. You can certainly argue that many of the players projected to come off the bench for South Carolina could transfer elsewhere and earn more playing time right away.
Instead, the winning culture Staley has created is enough to keep them in Columbia and play for the Gamecocks, even if it means taking on a smaller role.
“I think it all has to do with culture, and I think whoever their support systems are that are in place knowing that they’re happy,” Staley told The State. “They feel it, they understand it. It may not always be that way, but for where they are today. I think a lot of young people actually feed off what’s happening to them today, what they’re feeling today.”
