South Carolina Basketball: Two former Gamecocks pick up new pro contracts

South Carolina basketball coach Dawn Staley won her first national championship back in the 2016-2017 season. The Gamecocks had a roster loaded with future professional players. A'ja Wilson was a national player of the year while in college and was the #1 pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft. Three other Gamecocks were picked in the 1st round of the 2017 draft (just a few weeks after the title game, and two more were 2nd rounders in the 2020 draft.

Two of those 2017 1st round picks were Alaina Coates (2nd overall to the Chicago Sky) and Kaela Davis (10th overall to the Dallas Wings). 7 years later, both players signed their latest professional contracts, and they will be reunited with their new team.

On Friday, it was announced that the Seattle Storm was signing both Alaina Coates and Kaela Davis to training camp contracts.

Coates spent the end of last season with the Las Vegas Aces (along with A'ja Wilson), winning a WNBA Finals championship. The 6'4" post player has missed a lot of time in her career with injuries, but she finished the 2023 campaign healthy and has played well overseas this offseason. Coates could provide some needed frontcourt depth to a strong Seattle roster if she sticks with the club.

Davis was out of the WNBA last year, but returns to Seattle where she spent some time in the 2022 season. As a taller win player, Davis can provide some multi-positional versatility to the Storm as a player who can play anwhere from the 2 to the 4 depending on the matchup.

The other three pros from that 2016-2017 South Carolina basketball national championship squad were Mikiah Herbert Harrigan, who signed with the Phoenix Mercury earlier this offseason, Ty Harris, who plays for the Connecticut Sun, and 2023 WNBA All-Star Allisha Gray, who is with the Atlanta Dream.