South Carolina women's basketball earns another big-time transfer portal commitment

Earlier this month, South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley secured a transfer portal commitment from former FSU guard Ta’Niya Latson. The Gamecocks picked up another on Monday when Madina Okot joined the fold. On3’s Talia Goodman reported the long-expected news.

Okot, a 6-6 senior transferring from Mississippi State, was one of the top post players in the portal. This season for the Bulldogs, she averaged 11.3 points, 9.6 rebounds, 1.1 blocks, and 1.4 steals per game. She also shot 64.9% from the field and made 62.5% of her foul shots.

Possessing a standing reach of 8-10, Okot fills a huge need for South Carolina. Throughout the season, Coach Staley emphasized her team’s lack of a dominant inside presence. Only freshman Adhel Tac (who missed two years with injury) and senior Sakima Walker were taller than 6-3 this year.

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Okot’s journey to this point in her career is unique. Despite her productivity at Mississippi State, Okot is still relatively new to basketball. She didn’t begin playing in an organized fashion until 2020. Okut played two years of college ball in Kenya at Zetech University before joining MSU ahead of the 2024-2025 season. Next season will be her fourth in college ball, but with the NCAA’s new stance on players who spent time at levels below Division-I, it will be interesting to see what her eligibility status will be after this year.

For the 2025-2026 Gamecocks, though, Okot will look to fill the role of dominant post player that South Carolina legends A’ja Wilson, Aliyah Boston, and Kamilla Cardoso played on previous title teams. Thanks to the versatility of the Gamecocks’ other bigs like Chloe Kitts, Ashlyn Watkins, Joyce Edwards, and Maryam Dauda, she will fit right in.

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