Maddy McDaniel settles in as South Carolina's quietest leader

She has been since summer workouts last year before ever stepping on the court in a game, and everything she has done in her first season as a Gamecock has reinforced the name. She was mouse the day she arrived on campus, and probably will be until she departs.

“It’s the truth,” McDaniel said. “I really am quiet, day in and day out, I don’t really say a lot. That’s how I’ve always been.”

In theory, this should run counter to her role as a point guard. The floor general — especially on a Dawn Staley team — is almost always someone loud, talkative and eager to set the emotional tone for a team in the manner of a quarterback in football or a catcher in baseball.

“They're the people that have to really communicate,” Staley said. “You communicate in huddles, in live play in real time. You communicate on both sides of the basketball. You're the connector, the link to what needs to happen for us to execute.”

How does the juxtaposition work for McDaniel?

Don’t mistake her quiet nature for a lack of confidence.

She heard it all when she committed to South Carolina in August 2023. She was a point guard signing up to play behind MiLaysia Fulwiley and Raven Johnson. There was noise about her making a mistake when she pledged to play for South Carolina, that she was either going to have to give up her role as a point guard or accept not playing very many minutes early in her career.

“Some people told her she’s making the worst decision of her life and we won’t play her until her junior year,” Staley said back in December. “I’m happy because she’s proven them wrong. A player like Maddy, she’s always going to be successful with anything that she does."

Right out of the gate, there was obvious comfort. Just the natural, free-flowing type of play you need from a point guard. A knee injury kept her out of the first two games of the season, but she played double-digit minutes in each of the next ten contests.

Her steady hand kept her on the court, specifically taking care of the ball. Her assist-to-turnover ratio was well over 5:1, a national-best through the early stages of the season. That breakneck pace regressed to the mean a little bit, but she still enters the weekend with 50 assists to just 17 turnovers on the season in 317 minutes on the floor.

Still, this has been a growth process for her. Learning has been the central theme of her freshman season at South Carolina. Learning how to play at this level, learning from the older, experienced guards on the roster, and especially from the coaching staff.

“She’s a sponge,” Johnson said. “She wants to learn, she wants to grow and be one of the best to do it. Her being a freshman and her impact on the game when she does come in, it’s nice to see, honestly.”

Most of all, she has had to learn about herself. Juggling the soft personality with the fire and brimstone of the position has forced her to adapt and fit herself to the college game.

“I just definitely had to come out of my shell a little bit,” McDaniel said. “Playing the point guard role, being able to talk in uncomfortable positions.”

She is never going to be the chattiest Gamecock, or the one who lives up to the “daycare” reputation the most.

But she has quiet, unmistakable conviction. In herself, her journey, her decision-making and especially her game.

And that’s the loudest part of all.

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