South Carolina women's basketball: How the Gamecocks will replace Kamilla Cardoso's leadership

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South Carolina only lost one player from last season’s undefeated national championship team, but Kamilla Cardoso leaves a big hole both literally and figuratively.

At 6-7, Cardoso was a mismatch the moment she stepped on the court because of her size. Cardoso was the Gamecocks’ leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 14.4 points and 9.7 rebounds. She led the SEC with 2.5 blocks per game. 

Replacing that production isn’t as simple as plugging in a new player.

“It’s hard,” Dawn Staley said. “We’ve had those two post players for the past 10 years. I don’t necessarily think we have that right now. We’ve got some younger players that have some potential to be, but they haven’t had enough experience in practice or in-game to really deem them that. So we don’t want to put that on them.”

The Gamecocks also have to replace Cardoso’s leadership. She wasn’t the most vocal player, especially outwardly, but Cardoso was a quiet leader that the team rallied around.

“We had that question yesterday,” Staley said last month. “I don’t think anybody really wants to step into that role, but it’s going to come from a lot of different places. (Sania) Feagin’s doing a lot of talking. Breezy (Hall) has got to step up into that role a little bit. Pao (Te-Hina Paopao). So I think it’s by committee. I think they’ll take turns in voicing what needs to be said out there on the court. So you’ll hear from them in a variety of ways. And upon Ashlyn’s return, Ashlyn (Watkins) has a great voice in the locker room.”

Feagin could be in line for a senior jump similar to Cardoso, who raised her scoring average by nearly five points from her junior to senior season. In the offseason before her senior season, Cardoso was named the FIBA AmeriCup MVP. This offseason, Feagin earned MVP honors at the FIBA U23 3×3 World Cup.

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Staley said the international success has a major impact in one area.

“Confidence,” she said. “Feagin hasn’t played a whole lot of long, consistent minutes for us. So I think it’s happening at the right time with her having so much success with USA Basketball, being the MVP, I think she was a leading scorer as well. It could only help her. She’s practicing great. She looks like the senior that we need her to be. She’s playing that way again. She’s utilizing her voice in a way that says she doesn’t want to just win. She wants to make it to the next level.”

It may be that without a major presence in the post, South Carolina is led by its backcourt. Point guard Raven Johnson will have a bigger role this season. She and Cardoso had been friends since middle school, and Johnson helped everyone rally around Cardoso. 

It was Johnson who coined the ”Revenge Tour” last season and now the “Repeat Tour.” But for all the public blister, what Staley values about Johnson is her even keel.

“She’s very consistent in how she approaches practice,” Staley said. “What you see is what you get. What you see her doing in games is what you see her do in practice. So she’s very consistent with that, very, very competitive.”

Somewhere on the other end of the spectrum is MiLaysia Fulwiley. She is an emotional player who thrives off of big moments. She’s also South Carolina’s leading returning scorer and arguably most talented player.

Fulwiley also had low moments, when she got careless or lost focus. Before she can become a leader she has to eliminate those.

“I think MiLaysia knows that she has to grow,” Staley said. “She has to bring something different to it. And she has. From a maturity standpoint, practices are a lot different than what they were when she first started off. She takes them a lot more serious. That’s what you want in a young player, and I hope it transitions to some great things happening out there on the court, just in a more consistent way. She’s a generational talent.”

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