Freshmen Talaysia Cooper and Ashlyn Watkins are ready for the bright lights

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Freshmen Talaysia Cooper and Ashlyn Watkins stole the show during South Carolina’s exhibition against Benedict. 

Cooper played a team-high 25 minutes and filled up the box score. She notched 11 points, nine rebounds, six assists, six steals, and two blocks. Cooper nearly averaged a triple-double as a high school senior at East Clarendon and had a couple of quadruple-doubles under her belt, but that was playing in class 1A. Nearly doing it in college was a pleasant surprise.

Benedict coach James Rice singled out Cooper as the most impressive player he saw, calling her “special.”

“She did pretty good,” he said. “She handled that ball well. She looked like she could play multiple positions. She didn’t have a problem getting from A to B. I thought she moved on the court well, especially for a freshman.”

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Cooper played point guard in high school but South Carolina has moved her off the ball for her freshman season. Dawn Staley wants to simplify Cooper’s responsibilities while taking advantage of her instincts and abilities. 

“We took her off the ball so she could concentrate on being who she is: explosive to the basket, passing the ball, running around a little bit,” Staley said. “Her playing point guard, she was thinking too much and we weren’t getting what we were getting.”

In the meantime, while Cooper is learning the playbook she is also learning to slow down. It’s something Staley reminds Cooper about “all the time.”

“I just had to get a good feel of it,” Cooper said. “Watching the starting lineup go out and play, I knew I had to go out and lock in.”

Cooper’s instincts were displayed in the fourth quarter when South Carolina was pushing its lead toward triple digits and the game plan was largely forgotten. She took over running the offense and distributing the ball, working off feel more than knowledge. At 6-0, Cooper has long arms and a quick step that can create mismatches against many guards.

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“Coop can do a little of everything,” Staley said. “Once she gets in really great shape she can do it for long periods. She can defend, she can get to the basket, she can shoot it. She’s got great court vision. She’s a utility player that can do a little bit of everything. The best thing about Coop is she competes. When you compete, you find a way to impact.”

Watkins didn’t fill up the box score quite like Cooper, but she wasn’t far behind. She went for 11 points, nine rebounds, and two steals in just 15 minutes. Watkins showed off her strength around the basket, but also looked comfortable in the open court leading the break. Staley’s mission for Watkins is almost the opposite of Cooper’s: go hard on every possession.

“Ashlyn has to be dominant,” Staley said. “We want her to be dominant, like, right now. She’s a work in progress. She’s incredibly gifted skill-wise. She’s great around the basket,” Staley said. “We want her to do it all. We want her to rebound and push.”

If that sounds familiar, it’s the same message it took two years for Staley to get Aliyah Boston to understand. When Staley said Watkins “has times in practice where she’s brilliant, and times where she’s blending,” she could have just as easily been talking about Boston during her first two seasons.

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When Boston got the message, she became the best player in the country and led the Gamecocks to a national championship. At least during one exhibition game, Watkins, along with sophomore forward Sania Feagin, gave the impression that South Carolina’s frontcourt will be in good hands after Boston takes her talents to the WNBA.

Given the depth and experience the Gamecocks have, Cooper and Watkins may still spend most of the season cheering from the bench, but their future looks bright.

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