South Carolina Basketball: Gamecocks falling in recruiting rankings??

South Carolina basketball just won their third national title on Sunday with a win over Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes. The Dawn Staley-led Gamecocks went undefeated, marking just the 10th time in women's college basketball history that a team has won the title without a loss on their ledger.

Even so, there are many who believe that the Gamecocks have a chance to be even better next season.

Center Kamilla Cardoso is on her way to the WNBA, and she is expected to be a top-5 pick in next week's WNBA Draft. But, as of now, no other Gamecock is expected to leave the program (bench reserve Sahnya Jah was suspended for the end of the season and entered the transfer portal weeks ago), and the roster could be better next year.

Another year of experience for big-time contributors like MiLaysia Fulwiley, Raven Johnson, Ashlyn Watkins, Tessa Johnson, Bree Hall, Te-Hina Paopao, and Sania Feagin will improve those 7 spots on the team. Coach Staley also signed three 5-star players in the class of 2024 as Joyce Edwards, Maddy McDaniel, and Adhel Tac will be freshmen next season.

For some reason, though, ESPN dropped two of those three highly-touted South Carolina basketball signees in their latest HoopGurlz top-100 recruiting ranking.

Joyce Edwards, who had been ranked as high as #1 and had been #2 for a long time, dropped to #3. Maddy McDaniel, a player who had been ranked all the way up into the top-10 and was 12th for a while, dropped to 14th.

McDaniel, whether fair or not, likely was dropped a bit because of an injury. During her Bishop McNamara team's playoff run, she injured her knee. She did make the trip to the McDonald's All-American Game (even though she didn't play), so her prognosis isn't too serious.

The Edwards drop is stranger. Though Sarah Strong and Jaloni Cambridge (the current #1 and #2) are also elite players, dropping Edwards after what she has done recently doesn't make much sense.

In the last two months, Edwards had a legendary playoff run (by herself, she outscored her Camden Bulldogs' opponents the entire postseason), won multiple National Player of the Year awards, and was the co-MVP (with Strong) at the McDonald's All-American Game.

Edwards is so good that she has a chance to compete for early playing time on a loaded South Carolina basketball roster next season. Despite forwards Chloe Kitts, Ashlyn Watkins, and Sania Feagin being on the team (and all having starting experience), Edwards will battle for real minutes as soon as she gets on campus.

Ultimately, this rankings update doesn't mean anything, but it feels a little disrespectful to drop Edwards at this point.