On Sunday, South Carolina basketball coach Dawn Staley tweeted out her customary “A birdie just flew in the nest” to signify that her program just landed a new commitment.
A birdie just flew in the nest! 👹👹👹
— dawnstaley (@dawnstaley) April 23, 2023
Just because it is now #CoachStaleyOfficial, though, does not mean that the identity of said commitment has been released. In the modern world of recruiting, players (understandably) want to make the announcements of their commitments themselves, so South Carolina basketball fans will have to wait a bit longer before learning who will be joining their favorite team.
Two main targets seem most likely, but it is important to note that Staley has often operated in relative secrecy in recruiting, and when dealing with a program as high-caliber as South Carolina basketball, plenty of players would love to commit a moment’s notice. As for the two more public targets…
Earlier in the week, Depaul transfer forward Aneesah Morrow announced her top-3, and the Gamecocks made the cut. She is also considering LSU and Southern Cal. The top remaining transfer in the 2024 class averaged 25 points and 12 rebounds per contest last season at DePaul.
Junior College National Player of the Year Sakima Walker is another major target for Dawn Staley’s team. Walker is a 6’5″ forward who played last season at Northwest Florida State College after starting her career at Rutgers. She led her team to the junior college national championship. Walker has been on campus recently and has also visited Ole Miss.
The Gamecocks are also involved with Oregon transfer guard Te-Hina Paopao. A skilled outside shooter with point guard handles, Paopao has one more year of eligibility remaining. She was a first-team member of the All-PAC 12 team the last two seasons.
The Gamecocks also just missed out on two major transfer portal targets. After hiring assistant coach Winston Gandy from Duke, the Gamecocks were hopeful about their chances to also bring in Blue Devil transfers Celeste Taylor and Shayeann Day-Wilson. Last week, Taylor committed to Ohio State, and Day-Wilson committed to Miami.