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Message: [QUOTE="ConwayGmck, post: 3852089, member: 10442"] I am looking at next season (2021-22) as sort of a much more talented 2014-15 for South Carolina. In 2013-14 that was the first big step forward for the program under Staley: the previous two seasons were 25-win seasons where we were top 25 ranked, and was a Sweet-Sixteen caliber team. In 2013-14 we had zero 5-stars on the roster, but added an under-rated high 4-star McD AA in Coates to an overachieving roster with Mitchell and Welch, two other 4-stars. That team won the SEC regular-season title for the 1st time in program history. But while it had Elite-Eight/perhaps Final Four talent & depth, that was uncharted territory and the team still had a Sweet-Sixteen mindset, and that was where it ended. But the next season had the overall #2 class come in, with Wilson as the #1 overall prep player. And every player from the 2013-14 team returned with the exception of one player that played and produced the least of all on the roster. That 2014-15 team took a huge stride forward, and lost by 1 pt. in the Final Four to Notre Dame, with the last shot of the game in their hands. Next season, we'll lose only one player, who is a more substantial producer in Grissett. In 2012-13, a 3-star Post in Elem Ibiam improved over the final 8-10 games of the season, and continued her development through the off-season, to earn the starting job at the 5. In 2013-14, freshman Coates came off the bench, and the Gamecocks transitioned from a guard-heavy team with pitiful rebounding, into one of the more dominant post-presence teams in WCBB with Ibiam, Welch, and Coates. In 2014-15, Ibiam and Welch were still there as seniors, and started every game, while Coates and Super Sub Wilson came in for the 2nd and 4th Quarters, basically played 20 minutes per game, and often boosted the team offense during their periods of action. It is this type scenario that we'll most likely see next season: Dawn likes her upperclassmen and rarely sits them down for the youngsters no matter how talented they are - especially when there are no open starting slots available for them. So I imagine something unlike Michigan's "Fab Five" - where they were given the keys to the program right off of the bat - but more like North Carolina's "Fab Five" that preceded Michigan's: the Gamecocks will have their starting unit of upperclassmen, and bring in their talented youngsters in the back halves of each half of basketball. There will be rotations of 4-5 players at a time.... [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach

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