Dawn Staley and Aliyah Boston spoke with the media following South Carolina’s first official practice of the season Wednesday. Here’s a recap of what they had to say.
Nothing has been decided about how to recognize last year’s team, aside from getting rings. “We’re going to do something, but I don’t know what it is,” Staley said. “We’ll get some rings. I’m happy our team will be recognized as the number one team in the country last year.”
South Carolina had two players test positive for COVID when they returned to campus in July. Both were asymptomatic. The players had already discussed the importance of being safe, and they lectured those two players for not being more careful. “That really set the tone. They’re policing themselves over at the dorms,” Staley said.
Staley discussed the option of sitting out the season with the team, but no one wanted to opt out. This was before Wednesday’s NCAA announcement that this season will not count as a year of eligibility for winter sport athletes.
The Gamecocks are still trying to finalize their schedule. Staley expects the SEC to figure out the conference schedule by the end of this week or early next week. That leaves the Gamecocks with nine games to fill. They are finalizing plans for a multi-team event to replace the Battle4Atlantis that will be three games (“I’m not going to say what it is because I hope by not saying it, it’s a go,” Staley said.) The games against Maryland and Oregon will not happen this year, nor will a game against Duke. The UConn game will still be played. Staley still expects to play Temple, and they are trying to find a date to play Clemson. The ACC is playing 20 conference games, and Clemson has already announced it is hosting College of Charleston for two of its non-conference games. Staley said the Gamecocks need two more games, but are not planning to schedule any guarantee games.
Staley stressed that even though Wednesday was the first official practice, they had still been working out over the past two months. All of those practices were dedicated to man-ton-man defense. Now they are adding other defenses and working on offense.
Staley estimated the playbook will only be 25-50% of what it was last year without Tyasha Harris running things. Destanni Henderson and Zia Cooke are more aggressive offensively than Harris, and the playbook will reflect that. Staley is waiting on Henderson or Cooke to separate themselves at the point guard position. She’s also giving LeLe Grissett some work at point guard to create mismatches.
It doesn’t sound like the point guard battle will be decided anytime soon. “We’re now starting to play situational basketball. There’s a difference. We have to put them in as many scenarios as we think our opponents will put them in, and they’ve got to be better decision-makers all around,” Staley said.
Staley and Boston both talked about Cooke’s attitude and leadership. Boston said Cooke and Laeticia Amihere are replacing Mikiah Herbert Harrigan as emotional leaders. Staley said Cooke is a “killer” who isn’t necessarily a daily leader, but she speaks loudly in crunch time.
Staley complained that sometimes she thinks the players are too nice. “It almost bothers me how nice they are. I asked them a question, ‘Can nice players win a championship?’ They said yes, but it’s a question that bothers me,” she said. Staley asked Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve about it (Reeve is also one of Staley’s Olympic assistants). Reeve said she has won with teams that had nice players, “but an a**hole of a coach.” “So somebody’s got to have it. I can be an a-hole at times, but I can’t play,” Staley said. “They have an insatiable desire to compete. They compete every single day. They don’t make all the right decisions, but it’s not going to be from them not being competitive.”
Staley wasn’t asked about Amihere, but brought her up anyway. “We haven’t even talked about Laeticia. Laeticia looks like a totally different player than she did last year,” Staley said.
Staley also expects a big season from Victaria Saxton, the team’s only returning captain. “V is much improved. V can shoot the ball. She’s shooting the ball and making shots. She’s handling the ball a lot better. She’s on the track of progressing quite nicely. We talk to V all the time about having confidence. Her body language is good. If she makes a mistake she holds her head up. She’s a junior, things should be falling into place, and they look like they are falling into place for her.”
Boston said she spent the offseason working on her jump shot. For her the next step is to hit shots in games. Staley likes what she has seen and said, “If she’s not in the conversation of being player of the year, you’re reading it wrong. You’ve got blinders on.”
Staley said the mentally toughest teams will be the ones that win this season. For the Gamecocks, she expects that to mean how they adjust to having a limited number of fans at games. “I’m interested in how we’ll make the adjustment to having no fans in from having sellouts and having five digit attendance in every game. We’re going to be like most everybody else in women’s basketball. It’s going to be a big adjustment for us.” Staley said. “I’m not looking forward to people actually hearing me scream out on the sidelines.”
Staley was asked what her “peak 2020” moment has been. “The strangest but best is us already being done with our recruiting class of 2021. One of the players that we got a commitment from, I had never spoken to. I would text and she would never text back, and all of a sudden COVID hit, and she’s texting me. We were texting every single day. It was pretty cool getting to know our recruits because they had more time than they’ve ever had on their hands. I'm glad they chose to dive into their college choices in that manner.”
The NCAA announced two future Final Four sites Wednesday, along with regional sites. The NCAA announce that beginning in 2023 there will be only two regional sites instead of four.
Upcoming Final Fours:
San Antonio (Alamodome, 2021)
Minneapolis (Target Center, 2022)
Dallas (American Airlines Center, 2023)
Cleveland (Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, 2024)
Tampa Bay (Amalie Arena, 2025) (Newly announced)
Phoenix (Talking Stick Resort Arena, 2026) (Newly announced)
Upcoming regional sites:
2021: Albany, NY, Austin TX, Cincinnati, OH, and Spokane, WA
2022: Bridgeport, CN, Greensboro, NC, Spokane, and Wichita, KS
2023: Greenville, SC, and Seattle
2024: Albany, NY, and Portland, OR
2025: Birmingham, AL, and Spokane
2026: Sacramento CA, and Fort Worth, TX
