I agree there's no guarantee the team will be better from the positions that lost Harris at PG and Herbert-Harrigan at the 4. Both had too much experience and played such huge roles in the team's success this past season. I am expecting drop-offs in consistent production at both positions for 2020-21.
But the potential and prospects for the season are still excellent. At the Guard positions, we'll have 4 very talented former McDonald's AAs in Henderson, Cooke, Littleton, and Beal. It's likely that none of these will show the savvy and maturity to lead the team on game-by-game basis, and to expect them to may be a bit unfair to them, but all with the exception of Littleton - who red-shirted last season - have shown at times that they can.
Both Cooke and Littleton are tough physical guards who both played recreational league football in their states with the boys before taking up basketball. Littleton's freshman year at Texas was a total wash, with injuries and overcoming the shock of college life away from home. Her sophomore season was a major step forward, while she hoped to continue that last year at USC, the transfer red-shirt year was productive in that she was able to get some corrective surgery done on her feet, and she was also able to settle into her new life in Columbia, so this season she should be able to focus 100% on contributing to the team.
And I expect Beal to be a bigger offensive producer in 2020-21: she averaged 26 ppg her final year in high school, and finished as the all-time top scorer in her high school conference. She was a bit hesitant contributing offensively this past season, but a player like that usually isn't uncomfortable with putting the basketball in the hoop. She became the #2 rebounder on the team behind Boston however, and defensively earned the role as the top lock-down choice for the opposing team's top scorer.
Henderson has 9 total starts under her belt at PG, but they all came during her freshman season. She averaged just under 9 ppg last season coming off the bench, and I expect her to improve on that as the starting PG next season. Her assist-to-ratio wasn't great last season, but Destannie improved as the season progressed, where she had 64 assists (3.4 apg) to 33 turnovers during the 16 conference and 3 SECT games, and averaged 13.0 ppg in the SECT, so her potential for improvement there is sound.
I am very excited to see how the threesome of senior Grissett, junior Saxton, and sophomore Amihere develop their games over the extended off-season. Both Grissett and Saxton shot a combined 151-252 (.599) from the field coming off the bench, and averaged 11.7 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 2.0 bpg, and 1.8 spg in just 32.5 combined mpg. (about 16.0 mpg each). Both are very athletic and physical defenders - Grissett seemed to flourish after moving to the G position as a 6-2 G, while Saxton played as a 6-2 F. Both players can fill in for Beal or at the 4 where Herbert-Harrigan used to roam, although neither have the perimeter game from the 3 that Kiki had.
This is where Amihere may come in: Although she would most likely fill in for Boston at the 5, Amihere shot 7-13 (.538) from the 3 last season, including 5-8 (.625) in SEC gms. That's a small sample size, but it shows that Amihere has confidence in her perimeter game where she could provide the outside scoring that Herbert-Harrigan contributed, to a degree. Otherwise, she averaged 4.7 ppg that improved to 5.6 ppg in SEC gms, and 3.9 rpg in just 13 mpg, and 33 blocks over 29 gms. Hopefully the pandemic allows her to spend some time in the weight room this off-season, and strengthening her legs so she comes back more sure of herself for next season.
Finally there's not much to say about Boston, except she was a bit out of condition last season, but that's not too surprising for a true freshman center who started for her college team from day one. Still, she improved as she went along - averaging 12.5 ppg, 9.4 rpg, and shooting .608 for the season, but averaging 13.1 ppg, 10.3 rpg, and .621 during the conference season at the end of the schedule. As with Amihere, Aliyah could stand to spend some time with the S&C staff, and see if they can improve her stamina and conditioning.
It wouldn't surprise me to see either or both Cooke and Boston average upwards of 15 ppg this season, with Henderson, Beal, and perhaps either Grissett or Saxton - whoever takes over for Herbert-Harrigan - average around 10 ppg. Even Littleton could approach 10 ppg if her feet are totally recovered, which they should be after the long off-time from the red-shirt. I'm not sure what Russell would bring to the table, but I am excited to see her as well.....
So while I wouldn't say there are individual players that can fill Harris' or Herbert-Harrigan's shoes for 2020-21, I do expect to see some improvement via development, experience, and maturity in several players that combined may do the trick, and overall may even make the team stronger. We won't know until we can play basketball again......
but I love Andraya Carter as an Analyst.