South Carolina is poised to sign its second elite recruiting class in three years, but it wasn’t always that way for Dawn Staley. Not only did she once rely on diamonds in the rough, but there have been some high-profile misses on top ten recruits along the way. We take a look back at Staley’s recruiting history and hand out grades.
I’ve split the classes into two groups. Picking the exact year for the split was a little tricky, but it is clear that by 2014 Staley was signing a different sort of class than she was before. First, we’ll focus on the first six classes, from 2008 to 2013.
WBB: Grading recruiting classes (Part 2)
Players are graded on a sliding scale. For example, an unranked player who averages seven points and four rebounds and is a part-time starter gets a higher grade than a top ten recruit with similar numbers. I did not include walk-ons because Staley has never had a walk-on that actually cracked the rotation. There are a number of players who never made it to campus, and I did include them.
2008
#35 Miranda Tate (G) (Staley, originally signed with Temple) 21 games, 3.0 ppg, 1.9 rpg
Grade: D - Tate played one season and then transferred.
#36 Charenee Stephens (F) (Walvius) 110 games (49 starts), 5.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg
Grade: A - An undersized center, Stephens didn’t put up big numbers, but she was the enforcer on Staley’s early teams.
UNR La’Keisha Sutton (G) (Staley) 125 games (105 starts), 10.4 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 2.9 apg
Grade: A+ - Sutton was Staley’s first impact player and the leader of the team that finally broke into the NCAA Tournament. The future Harlem Globetrotter wasn’t the most skilled player, but her will to win was unrivaled.
UNR Taylor Dalrymple (F) (Walvius)
Grade: F - Dalrymple failed to qualify, went to junior college, and ended up at Arizona.
UNR Sada Wheeler (P) (Walvius) 6 games (0 starts), 3.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg
Grade: F - Wheeler had little impact in her few games.
UNR Tonia Williams (G) (Walvius) 11 games (1 start), 5.4 ppg, 4.1 rpg
Grade: F - Williams left after being upset over playing time, She transferred to West Virginia, but played only nine games there.
T Valerie Nainima (G) (Staley) 54 games (43 starts), 12.0 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 2.0 apg
Grade: B+ - Nainima’s first season (17.0 ppg, 36% from three) remains one of the better offensive seasons I’ve seen, but a knee injury limited her second and final season. Nainima is now on the coaching staff at Fordham.
Overall grade: C+
This class was a mix of holdovers signed by Susan Walvius’ staff and players Staley brought in. Not surprisingly there was a lot of attrition, but the class also provided Sutton and Stephens, who were important building blocks.
2009
#2 Kelsey Bone (P) 29 games (27 starts), 14.0 ppg, 9.2 rpg
Grade: D- - Bone was tough to grade, after all she was a freshman All-American and SEC Newcomer of the Year. But her disruptive behavior (she frequently didn’t bother to even pretend to play defense) in her one season, and the acrimonious departure that followed, were a huge black mark on the program.
#70 Ieasia Walker (PG) 130 games (103 starts), 8.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.4 apg, 2.0 spg
Grade: A - Walker was a steady point guard, and strong defender. She was second team All-SEC twice, first team once, and made the All-Defense team.
UNR Monique Willis (G)
Grade: F - Willis was arrested for shoplifting the summer before her freshman season, and her scholarship was revoked.
UNR Ashley Bruner (F) 128 games (44 starts), 7.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg
Grade: A - Bruner was the polar opposite of Bone. From Norman, OK, she couldn’t get an offer from the Sooners, so she and her brothers came to Columbia. Bruner was a selfless player who gave maximum effort despite being undersized.
T(JC) Ebony Wilson (G) 85 games (6 starts),1.0 ppg, 1.2 rpg
Grade: C - Wilson was a role player for three seasons. She didn’t do much on offense, but she was a defensive specialist.
T Marah Strickland (G) 19 games (5 starts) 8.3 ppg, 2.3 rpg
Grade: D - Strickland transferred from Maryland in search of more playing time, but didn’t even last a season with the Gamecocks.
Overall Grade: C-
Walker and Bruner were two more important building blocks, and Wilson was a solid role player. But Willis, Strickland, and especially Bone gave the image of a program in turmoil, one Staley had to work hard to overcome (there was the famous press conference to announce Bone was leaving, where the rest of the team stood behind Staley). Bone is still, literally and figuratively, a four-letter around the program.
2010
#8* Kayla Brewer (F) 7 games, 1.3 ppg, 3.1 rpg
Grade: F - (*Brewer was initially the #8 prospect in the 2011 class, but graduated early. She was eventually ranked #43 in the 2011 class, after she had already left South Carolina.) Brewer didn’t even make it to Christmas, and became the second top ten player to leave in a matter of months. She didn’t produce in her brief time (or at Texas and Tennessee Tech, her later stops), and her departure only darkened the cloud Bone had left over the program. It’s easy to say in hindsight, but it’s clear she shouldn’t have been brought in to begin with.
UNR Brittany Webb (P)
Grade: F - Webb failed to qualify and went to junior college before going to Seton Hall.
T (JC) Markeshia Grant (G) 68 games (37 starts), 8.9 ppg, 2.7 rpg
Grade: B+ - Grant blossomed as a senior, becoming the third “‘Eisha” in the Gamecocks starting backcourt with Sutton and Walker. Staley started nearly every game that season by running a play to get Grant a shot, and she usually hit.
Overall grade: D
I hate to give this grade to a class with Granny, who was such a vital part of the 2012 Sweet Sixteen team, but this was the second year in a row with a big bust and a flyer on a player who never made it to campus. You can see a shift in who Staley recruited after this class. No more home run swings (and misses). She focused more on high-character, coachable players and was less willing to bring a player who would be a bad fit, no matter how highly ranked they may be.
2011
#88 Aleighsa Welch (F) 137 games (105 starts), 10.6 ppg, 7.0 rpg
Grade: A+ - Welch inherited Sutton’s leadership role and successfully led the Gamecocks’ transition from a scrappy, undersized and underskilled team, to an elite team. Once the focal point of the offense, she willingly sacrificed her own statistics for the good of the team. I remember asking her before her senior year what it was like to give up her minutes at power forward to freshman A’ja Wilson, she smiled and said, “I’m just happy I won’t have to get beat up for 30 minutes a night any more. I can finally get a rest.”
UNR Elem Ibiam (P) 126 games (71 starts) 6.2 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 1.3 bpg
Grade: B+ - Ibiam wasn’t a great scorer, but she was a strong defender, good enough to start on the 2015 Final Four team ahead of Alaina Coates. Not bad for an unranked player.
UNR Tina Roy (G) 139 games (14 starts), 4.7 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 1.5 apg, 33% from three
Grade: B - Roy was a streak shooter who finished her career as the leader in games played and top ten in career threes. As a junior, she also was the first player under Staley to notch 10 assists - matching her total from her freshman season. Roy also performed the team song and became a Richland County Sheriff’s Deputy.
UNR Pamela Decheva (F) 15 games, 0.6 ppg, 0.2 rpg
Grade: D - Decheva rarely played in her one season and transferred to Winthrop.
UNR Shelbretta Ball (G)
Grade: INC - Ball was ruled medically ineligible before playing a game. She got her degree and is currently pursuing her doctorate at Florida.
T (JC) Sancheon White (G) 68 games (34 starts), 3.9 ppg, 3.2 rpg
Grade: B - White started every game as a senior as a defensive specialist. Not bad for an unheralded juco transfer.
Overall grade: A+
Notice the difference in this class? All hard-working, team-first, high character players. This class saw the Gamecocks go from an up-and-coming program to championship contenders, making it to the 2015 Final Four as seniors. Ibiam and Roy were key contributors on that team, and Welch was the heart and soul. Because she did so much of her work before many fans started paying attention, Muffin doesn’t get enough credit for what she accomplished and her role building the program.
2012
#40 Khadijah Sessions (PG) 134 games (100 starts), 5.9 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 2.2 apg, 1.4 spg
Grade: A - Sessions was a three year starter (it might have been four, but as a freshman she was coming off a knee injury) who didn’t put up big numbers, but was a strong defender and steady floor leader. She also had a knack for buzzer beaters. Sessions later tried her hand at TV and was recently hired as the JV Boys coach at powerhouse RIdge View High School.
#46 Tiffany Mitchell (G) 139 games (135 starts), 13.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.7 spg, 40% three point shooter
Grade: A+ - It’s hard to believe the two-time SEC Player of the Year (A’ja Wilson stole her third) was ranked #46 overall, and #15 at her position. One of the all-timers at South Carolina.
#89 Asia Dozier (G) 131 games (82 starts), 4.0 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 1.9 apg
Grade: B - Dozier was a three and D player who could space the floor and take defensive pressure off Mitchell, Wilson, and others. She was an important glue girl.
UNR Tiffany Davis (PG) 70 games (8 starts), 1.9 ppg, 1.0 rpg
Grade: C - Injuries derailed Davis’ career. She functioned as a sort of player-coach and bear-sitter for Eli during games.
T (JC) Wilka Montout (P) 59 games (1 start), 2.0 ppg, 1.5 rpg
Grade: C - Montout didn’t play much, but provided depth in the post.
Overall grade: A+
This was the class that put the Gamecocks over the top, and is the rare class that saw every player become a contributor. It was also the last of the classes that defined the early years of Staley’s program: lightly recruited players that you would probably call overachievers, with a heavy local flavor.
2013
#28 Alaina Coates (P) 133 games (66 starts), 12.1 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 1.6 bpg
Grade: A+ - Coates was the SEC Freshman of the Year and Sixth Player of the Year, and twice was an honorable mention All-American. Coates finished her career in the top five for career field goal percentage, rebounds, blocks, and free throw attempts.
T (JC) Olivia Gaines (G) 67 games (3 starts), 1.9 ppg, 1.2 rpg
Grade: B - Gaines was a scorer in high school and junior college, but reinvented herself as a defensive specialist. Her numbers belie her effective, reliable play and knack for coming up big late in games.
Overall grade: B+
The only thing holding this grade down is the class size, but that was necessary with the loaded classes around it. Coates ended up being one of the all-time greats for the Gamecocks, and Gaines was an important reserve who contributed numerous key plays for the 2015 Final Four team.
Part 2 will run Thursday...
