South Carolina Basketball: Gamecock commitments BALL OUT over the weekend

South Carolina basketball fans have been spoiled to start the 2023-2024 season. The two Gamecock teams are a combined 29-2 and firmly in their respective NCAA Tournament fields.

Dawn Staley's women's team is the unanimous #1 team in the country (well, they would be unanimous if it weren't for one voter changing his vote the past two weeks to generate online clicks from angry South Carolina basketball fans) and is dominating the regular season even more than they did a season ago.

The future appears bright, as well. Only Kamilla Cardoso is fully out of eligibility (though, Te-Hina Paopao is sure to draw some WNBA attention), and as is typical for Coach Staley, the Gamecocks have an incredible recruiting class coming to Columbia. The top-ranked player in that class is forward Joyce Edwards.

On Saturday, Edwards dominated Hilton Head Christian in the MLK Bash. Leading her Camden squad to a comfortable victory, the nation's #2 players put up 32 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals, and 3 blocked shots. Her scoring output matched what Hilton Head Christian (a SCISA state champion last season) was able to muster as a team for the entire game.

For Lamont Paris' men's team, the 14-2 start has the Gamecocks in position to make their first NCAA Tournament since the 2016-2017 Final Four season, and a 2-1 start in SEC play has fans confident that it can happen.

While there are a few more seniors of Coach Paris' squad, recruiting still has fans optimistic about the future. The class of 2024 has two top-150 signees, and the '25 cycle already has two commitments from 4-star players Hayden Assemian and Eli Ellis.

Ellis, a social media dynamo, has taken his game to a new level as a high school junior. He is averaging over 30 points per game for Overtime Elite/Moravian Prep, despite playing against top competition each night. On Saturday, just a week after dropping 50 points with a broken finger, he had another massively impressive showing, scoring 41 points. However, he earned 38 of those points in the 2nd half, including knocking down 7 3-pointers with a finger that still isn't 100%.

South Carolina basketball fans have a lot to look forward to, both as the 2023-2024 season continues and as the future arrives in garnet and black.