Former South Carolina basketball star getting new professional opportunity

According to a Tuesday release, former South Carolina basketball forward Laeticia Amihere will play this fall and winter with the Perth Lynx of the Australian WNBL (Women's National Basketball League) once the WNBA season ends.

Technically, the WNBL has already started its 2024-2025 season as the preseason began last week. However, the league has an expansive preseason, and the first official games will not start until the first week of November. Amihere's Atlanta Dream team is still in the hunt for the WNBA's final postseason spot; if the Dream makes the playoffs, Amihere won't join the Lynx until the postseason run ends, but the team's final regular season game is later this week.

Amihere, who plays her WNBA season with the Atlanta Dream, is finishing up her second year as a pro. The former 5-star recruit famously enrolled early with the South Carolina basketball program so that she could rehab an injury and then spent four years playing for Dawn Staley.

Last offseason, Amihere played in the short-term professional league known as Athletes Unlimited. It is unclear if she has plans to rejoin the AU league, but the end of the WNBL season overlaps just a bit with the projected start for AU.

During her South Carolina basketball career, Amihere was a Swiss Army Knife who played every position on the floor at times during her career, but her best role came as a mismatch-causing power forward. With her size and length, she beat smaller forwards with ease, but thanks to her athleticism and aggressive style of play, more traditional bigs couldn't keep up with her. She will bring that versatility to Perth.

As a Gamecock, Amihere was one of the country's best bench players, but despite her role, she is one of the most prolific shot blockers in USC history.