Dawn Staley might be the best recruiter in all of college basketball. The South Carolina basketball head coach brings so much talent into the program that even after she just lost her entire starting five (and three more contributors) off of last year’s team, the Gamecocks look set to compete for another national championship.
The class of 2024 has a chance to be one of the best ever to come through Columbia. On the first day of the early signing period, USC signed two 5-star prospects. Madisen McDaniel is a consensus 5-star guard, and post player Adhel Tac is a top-20 player in the country according to Prospects Nation.
The two standouts could be joined shortly by Camden, South Carolina native Joyce Edwards. Edwards, who is ranked as high as the top player in the country, is considered a lean to South Carolina basketball and has hinted that she plans to make her commitment sometime in the next two weeks.
Fellow top-10 national prospect Kennedy Smith (a 5-star wing) is believed to be deciding soon, as well, and South Carolina and UCLA are the perceived favorites for her services.
If the Gamecocks land Edwards and Smith to go with Tac and McDaniel, the class has a chance to rival the “Freshies” of 2019. Aliyah Boston, Laeticia Amihere, Zia Cooke, Brea Beal, and Olivia Thompson are among the most accomplished recruiting classes in the history of the sport, and the ’24 cycle could produce similar talent for the South Carolina basketball program.
For now, with two signed national letters of intent from Madisen McDaniel and Adhel Tac, the Gamecocks got better on Wednesday, but South Carolina basketball fans are hopeful that their favorite team will be getting even better in the not-so-distant future.
You can watch some of McDaniel’s film here.
You can watch some of Tac’s film here.
You can watch some of Edwards’ film here.
You can watch some of Smith’s film here.