2023 WNBA Draft: Versatile Gamecock drafted in first round

The 2023 WNBA Draft began with South Carolina basketball legend Aliyah Boston being selected with the first pick by the Indiana Fever. Next up from Dawn Staley’s program was the versatile Laeticia Amihere who will stay close to Columbia as she was picked 8th overall by the Atlanta Dream.

Amihere’s Carolina career was a wild ride. She played all over for the Gamecocks at different points of her career, and that multi-faceted skillset will serve her well in the League. At 6’4″ with a 6’10” wingspan, she has above-average WNBA forward length, but her quickness and explosive burst mirror a guard’s abilities. She also is an adept passer. Because of those traits, Amihere got some run as “Point LA” in Columbia.

Whether it was as a small forward, power forward, center, or point guard, Amihere was a valuable piece of the Gamecock puzzle who has so much more potential than she was able to show on her loaded college roster. In the later parts of the regular season and the SEC Tournament, Amihere flashed some dynamic scoring ability as she went on several different 6-0 and 8-0 runs all by herself. She is also an adept offensive rebounder who is not afraid to go right back up in traffic, scoring many second-chance points and drawing lots of fouls.

She was almost always a matchup problem on offense. Her size was an issue for smaller defenders to effectively guard, and her athleticism was usually not matched by defenders her size. An aggressive player, one of her biggest issues in college was foul trouble, but the WNBA allows an extra foul, a rule that will certainly help the Canadian forward.

Amihere’s do-it-all capabilities were critical to the 2019 freshman class that took the women’s college basketball world by storm.

The 2019 class at South Carolina went 129-9 (with just one loss at home at Colonial Life Arena), they were ranked inside the top-10 their entire careers, they made 3 Final Fours (there were only 3 NCAA Tournaments because of the 2020 Covid pandemic), they won 3 SEC Tournament Championships and 3 regular season SEC Championships, and they won a national title. They also won 42 games in a row, a number only beaten by two other programs in history.

Now that she is beginning her professional career with the Dream, Amihere will have the opportunity to showcase more of her abilities. She will join former Gamecock Allisha Gray in Atlanta.