South Carolina Basketball: Gamecock commitments win state championships

Those who follow South Carolina basketball recruiting are very familiar with the names Joyce Edwards and Hayden Assemian.

Edwards is the #2 national prospect in the girls' class of 2024 recruiting rankings, and Assemian is a 4-star recruit in the boys' 2025 recruiting cycle.

Edwards led her Camden Bulldogs to the SCHSL basketball playoffs as the heavy favorite to win another state title. Camden won in the 2022-2023 season, and they lost in the championship game in the 2021-2022 season (to current Gamecock MiLaysia Fulwiley and the Keenan Raiders).

Edwards' team defended their title, and as the state's player of the year, she dominated the postseason. A 27-point, 20-rebound performance capped off her senior year as she scored more points than all of her opponents combined in the SCHSL playoffs. The dominant forward will compete for early playing time for Dawn Staley's team next season.

Assemian and his Powdersville Patriots had never even played in a state championship game before this season, but with a trascendent talent like Assemian, things changed. As a junior, he has already claimed the all-time records for both rebounding and blocked shots at the school, and he led Powdersville to their best season ever.

Despite battling some injuries, Assemian logged another double-double (his fifth in six SCHSL postseason games) as he was the best player on the floor in the state title game against Darlington. A few high-flying dunks early and a clutch bucket late were his top moments from the state championship-winning effort.

South Carolina football commitment Landon Duckworth (4-star quarterback) won an Alabama basketball state championship this weekend, as well, as his Jackson High School squad dominated American Christian Academy for the title.

Another basketball pledge, 2025 4-star guard Eli Ellis, lost in the finals of the Overtime Elite championship as his YNG Dreamerz team fell to RWE. Ellis became the all-time leading scorer in Overtime Elite history (despite having another year left) and was voted as the league's MVP.