South Carolina Basketball: The biggest (early) questions for Dawn Staley’s team for the 2023-2024 season
By Kevin Miller
5 Questions around South Carolina Basketball for the 2023-2024 season:
What can this team do with LSU?
Fans of college basketball knew that it wouldn’t take Kim Mulkey long to build up LSU to a national power. However, winning a national championship in her second year on the bayou was a shock for even the biggest Tiger homer. Since bringing home the trophy this past April, LSU has gotten significantly better as a team, meaning South Carolina basketball will enter the 2023-2024 season as an underdog in the conference for the first time in what feels like an eternity.
LSU already was returning All-American forward Angel Reese and SEC Freshman of the Year Flau’jae Johnson. Then, Mulkey hit the portal and added Louisville star Hailey van Lith and DePaul’s Annesah Morrow. Realistically, the Tigers now have four of the top-25 players in the country heading into the 2023-2024 season.
The Gamecocks do not.
South Carolina will be a very good team and will be able to compete with LSU if things go well, but heading into the year, the roster isn’t “loaded” like the Tigers’ roster. Kamilla Cardoso is in the discussion around the country’s best players, and several other Gamecocks have the talent to progress to that level for Dawn Staley this year.
The Gamecocks trounced LSU a season ago, and while the two teams both look so different this year, that psychological advantage could come into play. The two top teams in the league seem to be on a collision course in both the regular season and SEC Tournament championship runs.
LSU is better on paper right now, but with more time to add help, the Gamecocks should not be counted out of the SEC or national discourse. If the game was played on paper, the Gamecocks would have been the 2022-2023 national champs, so crowning LSU is premature.
When the two teams match up, even with Reese and Morrow playing two of the forward spots, LSU will not have an answer for Kamilla Cardoso. If the 6’7″ stalwart can carry the load offensively and slow down the Tigers’ dynamic duo (a big ask), and if the Gamecock newcomers on the perimeter like Te-Hina Paopao and Milaysia Fulwiley can become impact players, South Carolina will have as good of a chance as anyone to knock off the preseason favorite LSU team.