South Carolina basketball coach Dawn Staley will have four seniors (and, potentially, two redshirt junior) to replace off of the 2024-2025 roster as seniors Bree Hall, Te-Hina Paopao, Sania Feagin, and Sakima Walker and redshirt junior Raven Johnson and Maryam Dauda all will be in their fourth (or fifth) year of college basketball.
However, the roster has a few more players on it than Coach Staley utilized last season (13 scholarship players as opposed to the 10 or 11 who were available most of last year), and the redshirt juniors could come back for one last ride. It is unclear how many new players will be joining the Gamecocks, but Coach Staley and her staff are recruiting some of the top players in the nation.
One of several 5-star prospects who are interested in the South Carolina basketball program, Canadian wing Agot Makeer put the Gamecocks on her first list of favorite teams earlier this summer.
On Monday, though, Makeer trimmed her list to just six schools, and Carolina made the cut again.
NEWS: Top-10 recruit Agot Makeer has narrowed her list to six finalists, she told @On3sports.
— Talia Goodman (@TaliaGoodmanWBB) August 5, 2024
Finalists: South Carolina, UConn, Duke, Michigan State, UNC, Kentuckyhttps://t.co/wvTUX81b8m pic.twitter.com/UbjkwbyYqX
Joining USC in Makeer's top-6 are the UConn Huskies, Michigan State Spartans, Kentucky Wildcats, Duke Blue Devils, and North Carolina Tar Heels.
As a player, Makeer is rated as a 5-star recruit by ESPN's Hoop Gurlz rankings and as one of the highest-rated 4-star prospects by On3.
Makeer is a wing, but she is versatile enough that her college future could include minutes at multiple positions. She is 6'1" with plus-length and has a lot of athletic potential. Because of that, she can fill in as a power forward in certain matchups, but she has ball handling ability and a comfortable jump shot that could allow her to play on the perimeter as a 2-guard or as a small forward.
Defensively, the sky is the limit for Makeer. Her size and athleticism allow her to guard just about anyone other than the tallest post players, and she has the type of instincts that allow her to block shots and get her hands in passing lanes.
Landing a "position-less" player like Makeer makes coaching easier, and if Coach Staley can secure her commitment, she will partner very well with some of the other versatile pieces on the South Carolina basketball roster.
You can watch some of her film here.