Gamecocks 2025-2026 Season

[triaddukefan]

Congrats, Coach Staley, South Carolina WBB, and South Carolina WBB fans on the signing of Jerzy.

You're too nice. I need to take you under my wing

 

[JDuro]

Christmas really came early for Dawn and the fams!

Yes. Very much a Joyeux Noël. 😋

 

[TC22]

She has played 7 games as a “pro” and averages 2 rebounds and 2 points per game.

The key here is she’s been practicing and playing against pro players who are grown women who are training as professionals. Most mid-year enrollees have been playing against high school athletes and they are generally the best player on the floor most days.

 

[oldude]

I watched a few videos on this young lady. She is obviously lean. But in addition to being able to dunk with 2 hands, she has a pretty good shooting touch.

What I am confused about is her actual height. Initially reported at 6’4”, someone blogged in that she is 6’7”, which looks improbable from the video. Someone needs to get a measurement in Hartley units….. 🧐

 

[visitingcock]

I watched a few videos on this young lady. She is obviously lean. But in addition to being able to dunk with 2 hands, she has a pretty good shooting touch.

What I am confused about is her actual height. Initially reported at 6’4”, someone blogged in that she is 6’7”, which looks improbable from the video. Someone needs to get a measurement in Hartley units….. 🧐

According to Dawn she is taller than 6-6 Okote. We’ll see. I worry more about her weight/strength in The SEC this year.

 

[oldude]

According to Dawn she is taller than 6-6 Okote. We’ll see. I worry more about her weight/strength in The SEC this year.

When UConn brought in Jana midseason from Egypt a few years ago, they elected to redshirt her. I would not be surprised if SC does the same with Tournebize. That will give her some time to settle in and add some muscle for next season.

 

[GamecockFam]

I watched a few videos on this young lady. She is obviously lean. But in addition to being able to dunk with 2 hands, she has a pretty good shooting touch.

What I am confused about is her actual height. Initially reported at 6’4”, someone blogged in that she is 6’7”, which looks improbable from the video. Someone needs to get a measurement in Hartley units….. 🧐

She used to be 6'4" but had a growth spurt recently and is now 6'7" as confirmed by Dawn Staley herself. Also, as a secondary confirmation, she was taller than Okot on her official visit and Okot is 6'6". It is confusing because she is still listed as 6'4" on her FIBA and other profiles but those haven't been updated.

 

[GamecockFam]

When UConn brought in Jana midseason from Egypt a few years ago, they elected to redshirt her. I would not be surprised if SC does the same with Tournebize. That will give her some time to settle in and add some muscle for next season.

I highly doubt that. Coach Staley has stated on Twitter that she is ready to play now. Also, I believe she was flirting with going straight to the W but decided otherwise, so I don't know how she would feel about redshirting. Coach Staley has only redshirted injured players in recent years. I can't remember the last time someone redshirted for developmental reasons.

It'll take some time to adjust but I think she'll be the first big off then bench in the post season.

 

[oldude]

I highly doubt that. Coach Staley has stated on Twitter that she is ready to play now. Also, I believe she was flirting with going straight to the W but decided otherwise, so I don't know how she would feel about redshirting. Coach Staley has only redshirted injured players in recent years. I can't remember the last time someone redshirted for developmental reasons.

It'll take some time to adjust but I think she'll be the first big off then bench in the post season.

Well, by playing college basketball, Tournebize lengthens the age that she will become eligible for the W from 20 (2 yrs) to 22 (4yrs). A redshirt year would not change that. If Dawn has made a commitment to playing Tournebize now, so be it.

1st Big off the bench ahead of Tac & Dauda?

 

[triaddukefan]

I hope she is vaccinated against Measles before she arrives to Lower Carolina

 

[oldude]

I hope she is vaccinated against Measles before she arrives to Lower Carolina


View attachment 115065

You’ll be happy to know that measles vaccination is compulsory in France, with 2 shots required between 12 & 18 months of age.

 

[GamecockFam]

Well, by playing college basketball, Tournebize lengthens the age that she will become eligible for the W from 20 (2 yrs) to 22 (4yrs). A redshirt year would not change that. If Dawn has made a commitment to playing Tournebize now, so be it.

1st Big off the bench ahead of Tac & Dauda?

Yes. I think she will pass Tac and Dauda by the post season, if not earlier. She is also eligible for the W if she uses up her NCAA eligibility no matter her age, so playing now vs. redshirting would have an effect on her eligibility (21 vs 22). Someone did a deeper dive on the eligibility requirements earlier in this thread if you want the specifics.

 

[JDuro]

This pic from July caught my eye. Okeke listed at 6’4.

When UConn brought in Jana midseason from Egypt a few years ago, they elected to redshirt her. I would not be surprised if SC does the same with Tournebize. That will give her some time to settle in and add some muscle for next season.

If Dawn didn’t redshirt Chloe on a team where her services were not needed (Bench: Cardoso, Amihere, Feagin, Watkins), I can’t see her RS-ing Tournebize on a team where depth is very needed. I hope AT’s presence lights a fire for Dauda and Tac.

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

I hope she is vaccinated against Measles before she arrives to Lower Carolina


View attachment 115065

When they had the outbreak in Texas I went and got a booster along with a polio booster. Who wants to chance it?

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

This pic from July caught my eye. Okeke listed at 6’4.

View attachment 115079

If Dawn didn’t redshirt Chloe on a team where her services were not needed (Bench: Cardoso, Amihere, Feagin, Watkins), I can’t see her RS-ing Tournebize on a team where depth is very needed. I hope AT’s presence lights a fire for Dauda and Tac.

I think Tac has the fire, but it's taken her a while to come back from her HS injury.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

She used to be 6'4" but had a growth spurt recently and is now 6'7" as confirmed by Dawn Staley herself. Also, as a secondary confirmation, she was taller than Okot on her official visit and Okot is 6'6". It is confusing because she is still listed as 6'4" on her FIBA and other profiles but those haven't been updated.

I found that confusing as 17 year old women do not generally have growth spurts, but I can't see any reason why USC would make up something that would be so obviously untrue to the eyes.

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

I found that confusing as 17 year old women do not generally have growth spurts, but I can't see any reason why USC would make up something that would be so obviously untrue to the eyes.

Typically, we list heights a little less than they actually are. There must be a reason for being so forthcoming about her height. In the grand scheme of things, she's a talent and her exact height is more curiosity for us. On Gamecock message boards everyone used to speculate that LeLe Grissette was taller than her listed height. Before the university turned my MBB section into student seating, I was next to the student section and one night my introverted self got up the courage to ask LeLe if our fans were right that she was taller than listed. She just asked me why I wanted to know and I told her it was a frequent online conversation between our fans. She never did tell me, just gave me a sly look, lol. If you guys only knew how out of character it was to speak to someone I don't know.

 

[GamecockFam]

I found that confusing as 17 year old women do not generally have growth spurts, but I can't see any reason why USC would make up something that would be so obviously untrue to the eyes.

My sister went from like 5'5" to 5'7" over the summer between her junior and senior year. She started running cross country (and later, marathons) until she got injured late in her junior year, so she couldn't run for a good six months. She was also notoriously underweight to the point where people thought she had an eating disorder -- I remember she weighed less than 100 lbs at 5'5". When she finally rested her body due to the injury, it was like her hormones decided to go into overdrive and she had, for lack of a better word, a second puberty. We always theorized that it was something about her bad eating habits mixed with her extreme exercise habits that prevented her hormones from kicking in like they should.

There have been some studies that corroborate with what happened to my sister, so it isn't unheard of in the sports world, though it is rare and usually a sign of extremely low body fat mixed with extreme exercise (like > 18 hours of exercise per week). Anyways, I kind of wonder if something similar happen to AT. That's where I was leading with this.

 

[mudcat]

I found that confusing as 17 year old women do not generally have growth spurts, but I can't see any reason why USC would make up something that would be so obviously untrue to the eyes.

Both men and women can have substantial growth in height in the later teens. Dennis Rodman was 5-9 or 5-10 when he graduated from HS, but then grew 10 or 11 inches post HS. Also remember a kid who played for Iowa who grew a full foot during the summer and fall after his junior year of HS. Rare, but it happens.

 

[cancontent]

Both men and women can have substantial growth in height in the later teens. Dennis Rodman was 5-9 or 5-10 when he graduated from HS, but then grew 10 or 11 inches post HS. Also remember a kid who played for Iowa who grew a full foot during the summer and fall after his junior year. Rare, but it happens.

Didn't Britney Griner have a growth spurt while at Baylor?

 

[SCGamecock]

Typically, we list heights a little less than they actually are. There must be a reason for being so forthcoming about her height. In the grand scheme of things, she's a talent and her exact height is more curiosity for us. On Gamecock message boards everyone used to speculate that LeLe Grissette was taller than her listed height. Before the university turned my MBB section into student seating, I was next to the student section and one night my introverted self got up the courage to ask LeLe if our fans were right that she was taller than listed. She just asked me why I wanted to know and I told her it was a frequent online conversation between our fans. She never did tell me, just gave me a sly look, lol. If you guys only knew how out of character it was to speak to someone I don't know.

I remember this. I think the online rosters had Grissett listed at 6'0 even, but she was definitely 6'2ish. Never understood why they were so cagey about her height in particular.

There was some confusion about Tessa Johnson's height when she first got on campus too. But I think that's because every recruiting site had her listed at 5'8/5'9 even as a senior in HS, so Gamecock fans thought we were getting a smaller guard, but once she got on campus everybody realized that was clearly off.

FWIW, I'm a 6'0 athletic guy and I stood next to Tessa when SC played in Paris and the family and fans met with the team after the game. She's easily 6'0, probably taller.

 

[JstVisiting]

Both men and women can have substantial growth in height in the later teens. Dennis Rodman was 5-9 or 5-10 when he graduated from HS, but then grew 10 or 11 inches post HS. Also remember a kid who played for Iowa who grew a full foot during the summer and fall after his junior year of HS. Rare, but it happens.

Most famous in men’s game is David Robinson. Maximum height for Naval Academy at the time was 6’6, so the Admiral gaining admission then shooting up to 7’1 or 7’2 gave them their first true center in decades. He turned out alright.

 

[DefenseBB]

So, this PC at SC game is interesting as it will be used as a barometer for both SC and UConn as UConn plays at PC on Wed night. I still think this SC team is pretty darn good and is an absolute Final Four contender. Yes, they are not as deep a roster as in past years but a normal and tight rotation is 8/9 so they have that. Also this years team is very efficient according to the metrics (and significantly better than last year).

Not sure why I am trying to convince the SC fans but…

 

[GamecockFam]

So, this PC at SC game is interesting as it will be used as a barometer for both SC and UConn as UConn plays at PC on Wed night. I still think this SC team is pretty darn good and is an absolute Final Four contender. Yes, they are not as deep a roster as in past years but a normal and tight rotation is 8/9 so they have that. Also this years team is very efficient according to the metrics (and significantly better than last year).

Not sure why I am trying to convince the SC fans but…

I don't think so. This is our first game back from Christmas break. I don't think there is going to be much to glean from a cross analysis since this game is all about getting back into the groove.

 

[visitingcock]

So, this PC at SC game is interesting as it will be used as a barometer for both SC and UConn as UConn plays at PC on Wed night. I still think this SC team is pretty darn good and is an absolute Final Four contender. Yes, they are not as deep a roster as in past years but a normal and tight rotation is 8/9 so they have that. Also this years team is very efficient according to the metrics (and significantly better than last year).

Not sure why I am trying to convince the SC fans but…

Some us have our doubts about this team. Yes we had a small roster in 2024 and went undefeade. But we had quality subs at guard ( Milaysia and Tessa) AND bigs (Feagan and Watkins). This team has developing talent at guard but we have not seen development of backup bigs.