South Carolina Basketball: Elite transfer portal player puts Gamecocks in final 3

South Carolina basketball will have a very different roster next season than they had this past season. Former National Player of the Year Aliyah Boston is one of just seven players from last year’s team that will no longer play for the Gamecocks. Five players were drafted (Boston, Laeticia Amihere, Zia Cooke, Brea Beal, and Victaria Saxton), and two seniors (Kierra Fletcher, Olivia Thompson) are moving on, as well.

With three incoming freshmen (5-star Milaysia Fulwiley and 4-stars Tessa Johnson and Sahnya Jah) and an unused scholarship from a season ago, the Gamecocks have five more scholarships available.

As of now, Dawn Staley’s program has not lost any players to the transfer portal nor have any transfers committed to the Gamecocks. With the recent hire of assistant Winston Gandy from Duke, former starting guards for the Blue Devils’ Celeste Taylor and Shayeann Day-Wilson expressed interest in the Gamecocks, but Taylor committed to Ohio State on Thursday.

On Friday, one of the country’s top available transfers named the Gamecocks among her three finalists. Aneesah Morrow, a 6’1″ forward from DePaul who averaged over 25 points per game and 12 rebounds per game a season ago, tweeted out a final three of South Carolina, LSU, and Southern Cal.

Morrow, if she picked the Gamecocks, would instantly insert into the starting lineup and would likely become Carolina’s top scorer. She has two more years of eligibility remaining.

Coach Staley is returning the SEC’s Sixth Woman of the Year (and All-SEC Second-Team member) in Kamilla Cardoso, but it is unclear if the center will enter the starting lineup next season or resume her bench role. Raven Johnson is expected to start at a guard spot next year, and true freshman Milaysia Fulwiley is a strong candidate to also start on the perimeter. After that, not much is known about how the 2023-2024 Gamecocks will be deployed.

The portal will continue to shape next season’s team. Staley could elect to look for immediate impact starters or rely on the considerable talent left on the roster. Ashlyn Watkins, Talaysia Cooper, Bree Hall, Sania Feagin, and Chloe Kitts are also set to return barring any transfer decisions. Hall and Watkins each played big roles in the rotation at times last season, Feagin showed flashes of excellent scoring potential, and Cooper and Kitts were extremely talented players coming out of high school that will continue getting better.

In the often unsure world of college basketball, Gamecock fans can be assured of one thing: the South Carolina basketball team will be just fine with Dawn Staley at the helm. The Gamecocks have won at least 23 games and made the Sweet Sixteen for the last twelve seasons (though there was no NCAA Tournament in 2020), including six 30-win campaigns and five Final Fours. As for Staley? She has no intention of slowing down anytime soon.