When you have been to take a look at the names of this yr’s All-SEC ladies’s first crew, you would not know the way badly South Carolina left the remainder of the convention within the mud. On Sunday, the No. 1 Gamecocks received their forty seventh straight SEC recreation and accomplished their second straight undefeated common season. However when the SEC honors have been introduced Tuesday, solely heart Kamilla Cardoso represented South Carolina on the primary crew. There have been two gamers from LSU, and two from 22-7 Ole Miss. It isn’t a lot an omission as it’s a clue to the Gamecocks’ success: If you’re on an amazing crew, it is arduous for a participant to face out. There is not a greater, deeper crew in school basketball this season.
I may have written the identical sentence final yr – I form of did – when it was widespread to see Daybreak Staley resting her starters early and rolling her bench like she was working 4 hockey strains. Some groups have been in a position to grasp with South Carolina for 1 / 4, however nobody may survive your entire recreation. Towards the Gamecocks, no opponent was ever allowed to catch their breath. So whereas I sympathize with the rival coaches or followers who thought this could possibly be the yr, {that a} crew that misplaced all its starters and graduated as one of the best recruiting class at school historical past may lastly let the remainder of the convention catch its breath. “I can not be too sympathetic. They need to have identified higher.
There’s nothing like continuity in school sports activities. That is why media voters checked out an LSU crew that returned one of the best participant from a nationwide championship winner and known as them preseason favorites. It is why those self same media voters ended South Carolina’s streak of 38 consecutive weeks on the high of the AP ballot and ranked the Gamecocks at No. 6 earlier than this season began. On the time, that rating appeared like an affordable compromise between respect for this system and wholesome skepticism. Staley needed to construct a brand new crew from freshmen and bench gamers, and whereas she’s recruiting at a excessive sufficient degree to make sure a stable basis, there have been definitely some transition pains.
However Staley himself did not imagine it. “It isn’t a rebuild. It isn’t a rebuild for us as a result of we’re very gifted,” she mentioned at SEC Media Day in October. “I believe when all is claimed and performed, our gamers will rise to the problem.” To cite one other gifted lady: South Carolina opted for ‘continuity with change’. They’d stay wonderful, however they might obtain that excellence another way.
Taking pictures open air was a weak spot of the ‘Freshies’ period. Final yr of their Closing 4 recreation, an overmatched Iowa compelled the Gamecocks to shoot by packing the paint and stifling the lanes to Aliyah Boston. That technique does not at all times work, however it regarded like Iowa known as South Carolina’s bluff. They shot simply 4-for-20 from exterior in that recreation, many on these wide-open seems to be, and in one of many extra symbolic moments of the sport, Caitlin Clark waved Raven Johnson instantly.
On the present crew, solely Johnson had began video games for South Carolina earlier than this yr – precisely three in two seasons. As a junior, and now full-time starter, Johnson is capturing a decent 34 % from exterior, up from the 24 % that despatched her packing final yr. She is joined within the backcourt by Oregon switch Te-Hina Paopao, a 48 % three-point shooter, and junior Bree Corridor, who is nice for 41 % from three. In recent times, South Carolina’s athleticism has been most evident on protection, the place it has allowed them to remain in entrance of opposing guards and dominate on the glass. This yr, it is particularly evident in transition: the Gamecocks are enjoying at a 91st percentile tempo, an enormous soar from a forty third percentile tempo final yr. Cardoso, the 6-foot-1 heart who’s having a breakout season, is nearly as good a boss as any guard, and there might not be a extra enjoyable participant to observe working across the court docket than Milaysia Fulwiley. (I’ve blogged this Fulwiley clip earlier than, however let’s watch it once more simply to make certain.)
The seeds of this transformation have been planted some time in the past, as fast because it appears. Reflecting on final yr’s senior class, Staley praised Aliyah Boston, Brea Beal and Zia Cooke for what they’d “sacrificed” individually, how they have been happy with fewer minutes and fewer stellar stats than recruits of their caliber on different groups. The fruits of that sacrifice at the moment are clearly seen: yesterday’s nice financial institution could be tomorrow’s nice starters. There was one SEC award that did not require studying between the strains that meant precisely what it mentioned: Daybreak Staley, Coach of the 12 months.