South Carolina Basketball: Former Gamecocks receive major awards in winter pro league

South Carolina basketball fans might be a little preoccupied right now with their Gamecocks' run through the NCAA Tournament, but some USC alums have been playing the past two months in a unique professional league.

Allisha Gray, Zia Cooke, Laeticia Amihere, and Tiffany Mitchell have been playing in the Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball League and all have turned in some impressive performances.

One former Gamecock, though, will be taking home some hardware for her showing in the ever-changing AU league as Allisha Gray earned the individual championship.

In AU, the league's top player is not given an MVP award; instead, the championship is awarded to an individual. The teams change each week, and a player's individual statistics and their team's performance combine to give each player "leaderboard points." The player with the most leaderboard points at the end of the season is the individual champion.

Allisha Gray dominated her way to that title. She set a new AU record for total leaderboard points and scoring (former Gamecock Tiffany Mitchell finished second in the league in scoring), and she led the league in points, field goals made, 3-pointers made, and free throws made. In 12 games, she earned 11 game MVP honors (voted on by players) as she scored at least 20 points in all but one game.

While Allisha Gray was the AU champion, Tiffany Mitchell was honored as the newcomer of the year, finishing 2nd in the league in scoring, led the league in 2-point field goals, and had the top 3-point percentage. Mitchell finished 6th in total leaderboard points on the season.

Laeticia Amihere was selected as one of five players to make the AU All-Defensive Team. Her versatility as a defender was paramount in her selection to the All-Defensive Team. Amihere was 2nd in the league in blocked shots and 11th in steals and routinely guarded multiple positions

Zia Cooke did not bring home any awards from the 2024 version of AU, but she did turn in one of the top offensive performances of the season, scoring 32 points in a game last weekend.