Published Mar 15, 2021
WBB: Grissett out for NCAA Tournament
Chris Wellbaum  •  GamecockScoop
Staff Writer
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@ChrisWellbaum

South Carolina will be without key reserve and lone senior LeLe Grissett for the NCAA Tournament.

Grissett suffered an injury in the SEC Tournament final against Georgia. Dawn Staley described the injury as a “lower leg injury,” and declined to get into specifics. It was a non-contact injury - Grissett fell to the floor as she was starting to drive and then hobbled to the bench - which is usually a bad sign. Grissett will still travel to San Antonio with the team and be on the bench during games.

“She’s going to be an unofficial coach on our sideline and she’s going to get the players to play at maximum effort just like she did,” Staley said.

Grissett had the best season of her career, averaging 6.7 points and 4.2 rebounds on 50% shooting. Her value went beyond statistics, however. She was a high energy player, aggressive defender, and versatile athlete who could play multiple positions. South Carolina rarely ran plays for Grissett. She filled in the gaps while the stars did their work.

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“We’re really sad, but LeLe’s still been with us the entire time, cheering us on, talking to us, giving us the type of encouragement and coaching from a player’s standpoint that we really need,” said Aliyah Boston.

Grissett played every position except center this season, depending on whether Dawn Staley wanted to play big or faster and more athletic. Her versatility allowed South Carolina to counter what opponents tried to do while keeping its best players on the court. Losing that is a big blow.

Brea Beal does many of the same things Grissett does and can play multiple positions, but part of what both of them successful was having the other to help. They also played together in the Gamecocks’ fast lineup, a pair of strong, athletic 6-2 guards who thrive in the open court.

Losing Grissett makes an already thin bench thinner. Staley played it close to the vest when asked how the Gamecocks will make up for the loss of Grissett, but suggested there could be significant adjustments. Laeticia Amihere won’t replace Grissett in terms of position in the rotation, but she will have to help replace Grissett’s production. Beal will likely play more minutes, but more likely is that Destiny Littleton and Eniya Russell will have to step up.

“We’ve been working a couple of things throughout the week,” Staley said. “We’ve been pleasantly surprised with some of the changes that we’ll make, and we’ll leave it at that and once we play Mercer we’ll unveil what that is.”

Littleton and Russell played sparingly down the stretch, but each offers something for the Gamecocks. Littleton is a capable shooter and good rebounder for a guard. She is smaller and less athletic than Grissett, but she can run point to relieve Destanni Henderson and Zia Cooke and her shooting can help space the floor.

Russell has looked like a normal freshman this season, inconsistent with lots of ups and downs. She has good size at 6-2, but is not as strong as Grissett. She is athletic and can create on offense, but late in the season her shot selection was poor. Russell had a tendency to take shots, especially threes, early in the shot clock, taking the ball away from Henderson, Cooke, and Aliyah Boston.

“They want to do their parts, but they can’t be LeLe,” Staley said. “They can only be themselves, and they can only do what they’re good at, and that’s all we ask them to do. Do what you’re good at, not anything more or anything less.”

This isn’t the first time South Carolina has gone into the NCAA Tournament without a key player. In 2017 South Carolina lost starting center Alaina Coates and played the entire tournament with basically a seven-player rotation. The difference is that Coates suffered her injury late in the regular season, so South Carolina had a few weeks to prepare. And Coates and Grissett are not very similar. Coates had much more production but only played one position, while Grissett

“When you’re hit with an injury like we were with Alaina Coates, it rocks you a little bit, and then you get back to your equilibrium and figure out how. We were wounded at that point but we weren’t done. We had people that fought. I kind of feel that same thing with this team. Do we feel bad that LeLe is hurt? Absolutely. But then we’ve got to get back on that horse and say, ‘Let’s figure some things out. How do we get her contributions into other people as quickly as possible.’ It was great to have this week of practice in which we moved some pieces around. I hope with a couple more practices we’ll continue to attack and look good doing it. It did not look bad at all, but we’ve still got to play some basketball games to prove that it can help us win a national championship.”

Despite being a senior, Grissett has the option of returning to South Carolina next season. The NCAA ruled that this season does not count towards a player's eligibility. Grissett has made no indication of whether she wants to return.