South Carolina women's basketball: Were the Gamecocks a transfer portal winner or loser?

The transfer portal has, for all intents and purposes, closed. There are still players in the portal looking for new homes, but with Kayleigh Heckel’s commitment to UConn last week, all of the top players are off the market.

South Carolina could still add a player, but at this point, it would be an end-of-the-bench reserve, not a rotation player. It would likely be someone who wants to finish her career close to home or on a winning team, or who is transitioning into coaching.

And, strictly speaking, South Carolina could still lose a player, but she would have to sit out next season (it happened in 2023 with Talaysia Cooper).

So with the dust settled, is South Carolina a transfer portal winner or loser?

For the literalists among us, South Carolina technically broke even. On the surface, the Gamecocks added a guard and post (Ta’Niya Latson and Madina Okot), and lost a guard and post (MiLaysia Fulwiley and Sakima Walker).

But that doesn’t reflect reality. With all due respect to a wonderful person and teammate, South Carolina didn’t lose anything when Walker transferred.

Walker barely played and produced little when she did. She was a great locker room presence and teammate, but the reason South Carolina went out and got Okot was because Walker wasn’t good enough.

South Carolina was the national runner-up last season despite not having a strong post presence or shot-blocker, two of the constants of their championship teams. Dawn Staley made it clear late in the season that she needed to find an impact post in the portal.

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That’s where Okot comes in. She averaged a near double-double last year, 11.3 points and 9.6 rebounds. She did it in her first NCAA season and in the SEC, the toughest conference in the country. Most analysts considered Okot either the best or second-best post player in the portal.

That is a clear win for the Gamecocks. They lost almost nothing and gained a tremendous asset who fit their needs perfectly.

The Latson/Fulwiley swap is more complicated.

Fulwiley is one of the most explosive players in the country. She makes plays that most people can only imagine, and she is capable of being an elite defender. She was South Carolina’s second-leading scorer despite playing less than 20 minutes per game.

Fulwiley almost single-handedly won the Maryland game in the Sweet 16, and South Carolina might not have lost to Texas in the regular season if Fulwiley hadn’t missed time in the fourth quarter with an injury. 

But you have to acknowledge the negatives with Fulwiley. She only played 18.9 minutes because if Dawn Staley left her on the court for more than three or four minutes, Fulwiley lost focus and did more harm than good. 

It happened when she jacked up terrible threes against Tennessee that blew a 20-point lead. Or the ill-advised three against Maryland that set up an easy transition basket that got the Terps off the ropes.

Playing Fulwiley for 25-30 minutes per game is terrifying to both teams. Staley once said that you have to let Fulwiley miss bad shots because she also makes them, but that trade-off tends to tilt the wrong way the longer Fulwiley plays.

On the other hand, you don’t have to let Latson take bad shots because she doesn’t. She takes good shots, she is efficient, and despite leading the nation in scoring (25.2 points), Latson keeps her teammates involved. 

As explosive as Fulwiley is, when South Carolina needed offense last season, it couldn’t count on her to provide it. That won’t be the case with Latson. 

As brilliant and fantastic as Fulwiley can be, there is no question that Latson is the better player. If you consider it a trade, the only downside for South Carolina is that Latson will be a senior and Fulwiley a junior; otherwise, it is a definite win.

It’s more than just a one-for-one trade, of course. Had Fulwiley stayed, Staley would have faced some difficult decisions regarding the starting lineup and rotation. Fulwiley’s departure makes it much easier to settle on a starting lineup (the guards will be Raven Johnson, Latson, and Tessa Johnson), but cuts into South Carolina’s depth.

South Carolina pursued Gianna Kneepkens, the former Utah guard who signed with UCLA. Kneepkens nearly had a 50-40-90 campaign last season and would have given South Carolina an embarrassment of riches at guard.

Instead, with a starting lineup of Johnson and Johnson and Latson, South Carolina’s backup guards are Maddy McDaniel, who played sparingly last season, and freshmen Agot Makeer and Ayla McDowell. 

Last season, McDaniel looked fully capable of stepping into an increased role. But Makeer and McDowell are unproven. If one or both of the freshmen can become a consistent contributor, it would erase any doubt that the Gamecocks were a portal winner.

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