South Carolina women's basketball players recruiting elite transfer portal talent
South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley lamented the NCAA calendar earlier this week when she talked about balancing getting her team ready for NCAA Tournament games while her coaching staff begins transfer portal recruiting relationships.
As it turns out, Staley’s team has her back.
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After Florida State Seminoles guard Ta’Niya Latson entered the transfer portal this week, the Gamecock players began their recruiting efforts.
Point guard Raven Johnson has known Latson for years and spoke to the media about trying to convince her friend to join South Carolina this offseason. “I’d tell her ‘Let’s run it back,'” said Johnson. “I’m definitely trying to get her to come here. I’m in her ear, I’m definitely in her ear. I would be happy–we’d all be happy–to play with her.”
Latson led the entire country in scoring this season, putting up 25.2 points per game. She’s not just a scorer, though, as she dished out 4.6 assists and logged 2.2 steals per game. Despite being just 5-8, she secured 4.6 rebounds per game, too. Had it not been for Hannah Hidalgo posting another historic two-way season for Notre Dame, Latson would have been the ACC Player of the Year.
Johnson isn’t the only Gamecock recruiting Latson to trade in her garnet and gold for garnet and black. According to Johnson, “I played high school with her. Me, MiLaysia (Fulwiley), Joyce (Edwards), Ashlyn (Watkins), Kamilla (Cardoso), we all played AAU with her. She knows what a winning culture feels like. She knows [what] a disciplined basketball team feels like.”
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Latson’s existing relationships with USC players certainly won’t hurt the team’s chances of landing her out of the transfer portal. She’s also known as an extremely competitive player with a strong drive to win. There’s no group in major college sports with a better winning culture than the South Carolina women’s basketball team.
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The fit could be a good one, too.
South Carolina is losing (at least) two of its three starting perimeter players this offseason. Te-Hina Paopao and Bree Hall are graduating seniors with WNBA Draft hopes. Johnson, a redshirt junior, is draft-eligible, but her “run it back” comments about Latson imply she could be returning to Columbia.
The Gamecocks also typically play multiple ballhandling guards at a time in Staley’s system. In the starting lineup the past two years, that has meant Johnson and Paopao have played together. MiLaysia Fulwiley and Tessa Johnson also fit the description, but both players have come off the bench through two years in Columbia. Adding to the equation another dynamic guard who can handle the basketball wouldn’t clog up the Carolina rotation. It actually would fall right into the style of play Staley likes for her team’s offense. Latson can play off-ball next to another point guard like Johnson, or she can play on the ball when asked.
If Staley (with assists from her team) can land Latson, it would go a long way in a Gamecock reload.
For now, though, South Carolina will play in the Elite Eight on Sunday with a spot in the Final Four on the line. The Gamecocks and Duke Blue Devils will match up at 1:00 p.m. in Birmingham. ABC will broadcast the contest, while the ESPN app makes it available via streaming. USC beat Duke 80-71 earlier this season.
