Here's how Dawn Staley's 4 newcomers might fit in for national champ Gameco*cks (2024)

COLUMBIA— Most newcomers would be ready to face at least the strong possibility of sitting for a while.

Most newcomers are not at South Carolina.

Almost everybody on the roster played significant minutes during a 38-0 national championship season. Everybody played some minutes during the journey.

So just because there will be four new faces (really three as redshirt freshman Adhel Tac enrolled at midseason last year) doesn’t mean anyone has to wait to see what they can do. Coach Dawn Staley saw last year that the numerous combinations and lineups she could field was one of the major keys to dominating the sport.

With four new players to add to the mix, why stop what clearly worked?

“Where do you start with a team that is young, but they’re probably feeling themselves a little bit because we’ve had success, and feeling themselves a little bit because they finally will get an opportunity to play?,” Staley said during the NCAA Tournament last year. “You have to start this year with a new group, wipe the slate clean, allow them to figure out what their identity will be, both on and off the court, and ride the wave a little bit, but also don’t ever sacrifice our core values.”

With Joyce Edwards back from herMVP turn in Team USA’s gold-medal run in the FIBA U18 AmeriCup, all four are on campus for summer workouts. A look:

Adhel Tac

Tac was introduced early, enrolling at USC to rehab an injury that cost her her final season of high-school basketball, much as Laeticia Amihere did as the first of “The Freshies” to come to Columbia. Tac's profile grew in March and April, her slam style of pre-game poetry a popular addition to a social-media video documentary wrapping the year.

She’s tall— a listed 6-foot-5— and Staley has already compared her to program great Aliyah Boston on the defensive end. The Gameco*cks made a point of including Tac in scouting reports so she could understand terminology and the leadup to games while she couldn’t play last year, and Staley says she can be a force inside— once she’s healthy.

“She’s communicative, she’s high-IQ and she can move. Then from an offensive standpoint, I really feel like she can impose her will,” Staley said. “She’s got great footwork, great hands, great IQ, can kick it out. I’m really excited about her progression and what she’ll bring to our program.”

The only real question is if and when her knee will be 100 percent. She was injured in early November so it will be pretty close to a full year once the season begins, but work is being done now. Tac is able to do some things but will have to learn on the go as the Gameco*cks get into their preseason plans.

Joyce Edwards

The only question is where exactly to place a 6-2 athlete who had one of the most decorated prep careers in state history.

The answer: Anywhere, and everywhere.

Edwards can play face-up and shoot jumpers, and she can beat opponents down the floor for inside buckets. Playing back-to-the-basket may not be her greatest strength at present, but she’ll add muscle and get there. Run, pass, rebound, block— Edwards was rated the country’s second-best prospect for a lot of reasons.

And it isn’t like she was twiddling her thumbs while the rest of the Gameco*cks were in Columbia working out. Edwards averaged 14.2 points and 7.2 rebounds during the AmeriCup as she won her second gold medal in as many summers.

“When I go to South Carolina, my main goal is to just get on the floor, be a defensive player— because you can’t get on the floor without defense— and then sculpting my offense to be what the team needs,” Edwards told Slam magazine. “I’m not coming in looking to be, like, the star player and none of that. I’m just trying to come in and do what the team needs and fit into my role.”

She will play, and most likely a lot. As with A’ja Wilson before her, USC has the luxury of not having to start and/or depend on her right away. It’s also quite an intimidator to have one of the most wanted prospects in recent memory coming off the bench.

Maddy McDaniel

The rookie with the most difficult trek toward playing major minutes, McDaniel will find it hard to stay on the floor this season, unless she simply wows the coaches by being better than the established guards. She’s a point guard, and a great one, the No. 2 player at her position in the class and named the best in the Washington, D.C. region.

“I love a point guard who plays to make others better without sacrificing her own talent as a playmaker; and Madisen is that,” Staley said in a statement. “She has court vision and the ability to shoot and get to the rim, but what sets her apart is that she makes good decisions in the moment and has team success as her top priority.”

But the Gameco*cks have Raven Johnson, the starter at PG last year, and Te-Hina Paopao, who ran it when Johnson sat down. And Tessa Johnson and MiLaysia Fulwiley and Bree Hall. Even if Staley continues to rely on a three-guard lineup, which of those is out because McDaniel is in?

The plan is not to redshirt McDaniel. She will play.

But playing a lot may have to a wait for a year.

Maryam Dauda

The one find from the transfer portal, Dauda arrives at USC after two years at Arkansas. Staley was impressed by the 19 points she put on the Gameco*cks last season.

“She’s good. A big that has great footwork, a big that can shoot the 3, a big that keeps you off-balance,” Staley said. “She is really, really, really good. I found myself complimenting her with what she was able to do out there on the floor.”

At 6-4, Dauda has a nifty outside jumper and is a shot-blocking specialist. The Razorbacks have a distinct style— run and score and don’t worry so much about defense— so it will be interesting to see how Dauda fits into a USC style that yes, has emphasized post players but is also keen on tight D.

But she’s too sizable, and too talented, not to play. This will not be a case of immediately taking over for the departed Kamilla Cardoso, but she’ll be able to back up projected starting forwards Chloe Kitts and Ashlyn Watkins.