WBB: Where Does the Gamecocks' Recruiting Stand?

The Gamecocks returned to campus last week and preparations for the season are underway. It is a quiet period in recruiting but for some fans, recruiting has been too quiet.

Last week was a week-long recruiting shutdown, and South Carolina has yet to sign a player for this year’s class. Adding to the discouragement has been a series of targets who signed elsewhere over the summer.

Loyal McQueen, a 5-8 point guard from Wilson High School in Florence signed with Georgia Tech on August 3. McQueen originally signed with North Carolina but reopened her recruitment when Sylvia Hatchell resigned. However, while she was originally targeted by South Carolina before committing, McQueen did not appear to be a priority after decommitting.

On July 27, Olivia Cochran, a 6-1 forward from Columbus, Georgia, committed to Louisville. Cochran, the 21st-ranked prospect, had South Carolina as a finalist, but opted for the Cardinals. Earlier this month point guard Sarah Andrews, the seventh-ranked prospect in the country, announced her top five, eliminating South Carolina.

Those two followed targets like Sydney Parrish and Kylee Watson committing to Oregon and in-state prospect Nyah Leveretter (Westwood High School) committing to arch-rival Kentucky. It has been, so far, a series of misses.

So is fans’ hand-wringing warranted?

Not yet.

The Gamecocks’ 2019 class is considered one of the best ever, and how many players had been signed a year ago this time? One: preferred walk-on Olivia Thompson. The Gamecocks’ four big commitments came during a two-and-a-half week stretch in November. Zia Cooke was the first to pull the trigger, on November 5, followed by Brea Beal three days later. Laeticia Amihere committed November 14, and Aliyah Boston surprised everyone a week later with her commitment on the final day of the early signing period.

Add in transfer Destiny Littleton, who joined the fold after the season on May 14. That may seem like an afterthought, but thanks in part to the transfer portal, it seems like more players than ever are transferring, and Dawn Staley has a good track record with transfers (Allisha Gray and Kaela Davis were the most prominent, but there have been a number of other role players).

So be patient.

By my count, South Carolina is still in the running for two of this year’s top ten, including Angel Reese, the number 2 prospect. Reese has set her five official visits, and South Carolina gets the final slot, the weekend of October 4-6. South Carolina is also involved with three more players in the top 50, along with one who is unranked due to injury. It only takes two or three of those to make a solid recruiting class.

Which brings up another point: how much space does South Carolina realistically have? Last season South Carolina went 11 deep, which was a definite an outlier under Staley. She prefers to go eight or nine deep, and only have a couple more players behind that. She doesn’t sign players just to use up all the available scholarships.

Projecting this year’s roster, it sits at nine clear contributors (Tyasha Harris, Mikiah Herbert Harrigan, LeLe Grissett, Destanni Henderson, Victaria Saxton, and the freshmen Amihere, Beal, Boston, and Cooke, plus Littleton if her waiver is approved). I also think that, despite being a walk-on, Thompson has a chance to be a contributor. She was a great shooter in high school, and the Gamecocks have been on a quest to find a shooter for years (she’s also a good quarterback).

Of those, only two (Harris and Herbert Harrigan) are seniors. Grissett (and Littleton if she is eligible) is a junior. The rest are sophomores and freshmen (Amihere is technically a redshirt freshman because she enrolled this past January). That doesn’t leave a lot of room for newcomers. A “down” year in recruiting, compared to 2019, shouldn’t be a surprise. Recruits understandably want to go where they can play.

Think about McQueen. She’s a point guard. There would be two top ten recruits ahead of her, not counting any other 2020 recruits (South Carolina is in the running for Sarah Andrews, another top ten point guard). There simply isn’t much room for her.

That segues into another issue: the state of South Carolina is loaded with talented underclassmen. Staley and her staff have been aggressive with the underclassmen because that’s where the talent is. South Carolina has already offered at least three in-state players for 2022 (Talaysia Cooper, Maliyiah Mason, and Ashlyn Watkins), along with offers for players in the 2023 and 2024 classes. Staley attended Malaysia Fulwiley’s (2023, Keenan High School) state championship game this past March. Landing those in-state players is important. So is keeping room for them on the roster.

Recruiting will pick up again when the contact period begins September 9. The early signing period is November 13-20, and a lot can change in three months.