USC Gamecocks 2024-25 Season: Part Two

[cancontent]

I understand the sentiment but Texas's two losses are not as bad as Notre Dame's. Texas has losses to the current #2 and #4 teams. South Carolina has losses to the current #1 and #3 teams. Notre Dame has losses to #11 and an unranked team.

I understand the rankings because most polls come from a perspective of "what have you done for me lately", so I get it. I just disagree.

An overtime win - at home? That doesn't count as much for Notre Dame as their losss to Utah,

Record even.
Texas losses to two top 5s SCar and ND
ND losses to top ten TCU and thirty-ish Utah,

I’m not saying it’s right just saying it’s understandable

Thanks for the perspective. Helps me to better understand where you're coming from.

 

[Creature]

I think SC has gotten just about as much out of Feagin as you could ask since Watkins went down, but the team just doesn’t have a good matchup for a Betts or Oldacre-type post.

SC matches up well with ND, UConn, and LSU.

Doesn’t match up very well with UCLA or Texas.

I’m somewhat in the middle on USC.

It’s going to be all about the draw and the path come tournament time.

We have been missing out on recruiting bigs lately

2022- 6ft5 6 /10 wing span Kyla Oldacare ( recruited but no offer) Kid dominated us yesterday

2023- Aliyah Del Rosario 6ft6 200+lbs

2024-Katie Koval 6ft5 200+ pounds and to some extent Blanca Thomas from Charlotte. 6ft5 who is at UNC

2025- nobody targeted

2026-seems Olivia Vukosa is the primary target -6ft5 200lbs

Tbh this staff has whiffed on big size post since Boston in 2019 and Cardosa 2020

So to compensate for those we missed on-you signed 6ft6 Sakima Walker, offer and sign Adhel Tac after Koval goes to Notre Dame and sign Dauda out of the portal when somebody like Grace Van Slooten from Oregon was available in the portal.

 

[JstVisiting]

We have been missing out on recruiting bigs lately

2022- 6ft5 6 /10 wing span Kyla Oldacare ( recruited but no offer) Kid dominated us yesterday

2023- Aliyah Del Rosario 6ft6 200+lbs

2024-Katie Koval 6ft5 200+ pounds and to some extent Blanca Thomas from Charlotte. 6ft5 who is at UNC

2025- nobody targeted

2026-seems Olivia Vukosa is the primary target -6ft5 200lbs

Tbh this staff has whiffed on big size post since Boston in 2019 and Cardosa 2020

So to compensate for those we missed on-you signed 6ft6 Sakima Walker, offer and sign Adhel Tac after Koval goes to Notre Dame and sign Dauda out of the portal when somebody like Grace Van Slooten from Oregon was available in the portal.

I thought we should have offered Gracie Merkle from Bellermine in the portal. She’s not as quick as Dawn would like, but 6’6 and strong is worth occasionally slowing down for. Putting up 15/8.5 for a bad Penn State; she surely would have had some matchup specific use for us.

Gracie Merkle Career Stats - NCAAW - ESPN

Complete career NCAAW stats for the Penn State Lady Lions Center Gracie Merkle on ESPN. Includes points, rebounds, and assists.

www.espn.com

 

[Gamecockfan77]

We have been missing out on recruiting bigs lately

2022- 6ft5 6 /10 wing span Kyla Oldacare ( recruited but no offer) Kid dominated us yesterday

2023- Aliyah Del Rosario 6ft6 200+lbs

2024-Katie Koval 6ft5 200+ pounds and to some extent Blanca Thomas from Charlotte. 6ft5 who is at UNC

2025- nobody targeted

2026-seems Olivia Vukosa is the primary target -6ft5 200lbs

Tbh this staff has whiffed on big size post since Boston in 2019 and Cardosa 2020

So to compensate for those we missed on-you signed 6ft6 Sakima Walker, offer and sign Adhel Tac after Koval goes to Notre Dame and sign Dauda out of the portal when somebody like Grace Van Slooten from Oregon was available in the portal.

I don't believe Tac was a fall back at all.

 

[SCGamecock]

Elite 6'4+ post players out of high school in WCBB are a rarity. The fact that SC had 4 back-to-back-to-back-to-back is an even bigger rarity (Coates-Wilson-Boston-Cardoso). I think it might've spoiled us into thinking "who's next up" but the reality is we've been extremely lucky and our ability to get elite bigs definitely contributed heavily to our rise as a power in the sport.

With more teams building rosters that resemble a typical SC roster (looking at you, Cori Close), competition for these elite bigs will get stiffer and stiffer.

In 2025, the coveted elite big is Sienna Betts who at 6'4 is already committed to UCLA to play with her sister. Stanford has the other very good bigs, Lara Somfai and Alexandra Eschmeyer who are both 6'5.

In 2026, there's currently a WAR being waged for 6'5 Olivia Vukosa (who I feel is UConn bound, but we'll see).

The bottom line is, Gamecock fans may have to be a little patient before we see another Cardoso-like big at SC again or Dawn may have to switch up tactics to bring that next 6'4+ player to SC.. maybe go international, or look at less athletic/defensive stretch forwards. I'm just spitballing here.

 

[cancontent]

Courtesy of the Aces social media team.

 

[JDuro]

I don't believe Tac was a fall back at all.

I don’t either. I’m very much looking forward to watching her over the next three seasons. Despite limited play, I’ve seen enough to see she has quick feet and is quite mobile in the paint. Tuesday on Carolina Calls, Dawn was asked about Adhel and she said they are bringing her along slowly referencing her rustiness and her working in the weight room with Molly.

 

[WBBTakeover]

I thought we should have offered Gracie Merkle from Bellermine in the portal. She’s not as quick as Dawn would like, but 6’6 and strong is worth occasionally slowing down for. Putting up 15/8.5 for a bad Penn State; she surely would have had some matchup specific use for us.

Gracie Merkle Career Stats - NCAAW - ESPN

Complete career NCAAW stats for the Penn State Lady Lions Center Gracie Merkle on ESPN. Includes points, rebounds, and assists.

www.espn.com

Have you actually SEEN Gracie Merkle? Because maybe that's a reason why she ended up at Penn State.

 

[WBBTakeover]

The bottom line is, Gamecock fans may have to be a little patient before we see another Cardoso-like big at SC again or Dawn may have to switch up tactics to bring that next 6'4+ player to SC.. maybe go international, or look at less athletic/defensive stretch forwards. I'm just spitballing here.

Perhaps the next 6'7 birdie could be another Portuguese-speaking transfer?

 

[WBBTakeover]

Who are the leaders on this year's team? Because, wow.

 

[USMC(ret)]

Thoughts on the UConn game:
1. Total domination by UConn in every phase of the game. Never saw us get boat raced before, but that’s what it was today.
2. This won’t be a popular opinion, but here it is: we’re soft, especially in the paint. Kitts has a lot of determination, and yes, she hits the weight room, but she frequently loses the ball under the basket. Feagin doesn’t fare much better. Edwards needs more muscle. Our three losses showed a common thread: we haven’t replaced Cardoso. Tac not getting meaningful minutes means she’s not the answer, either. Like it or not, our success over the years has been when we had a dominant big.
3. Another poster asked this question: who is our leader inside the lines? Answer: there isn’t one. We have a talented roster, they all get along, and they share minutes without much complaint; but when the train runs off the track, who is willing to pull a teammate aside and get them in line? Raven? Te-hina? To my knowledge, we don’t have a team captain. Everything depends on Dawn’s relationship with each individual player. And maybe that works, but we needed someone today who would hold teammates accountable when turnovers became epidemic. Does not having a dominant personality among our players hurt in this regard?
4. At least it wasn’t a conference game, and LSU lost today. We may have to beat both Texas and LSU in the conference tournament, and we need to fix our problems before the tournament begins. Both Texas and LSU are going to watch the tape of our game today to see how UConn beat us like a drum.

Forever to thee…

 

[GamecockFam]

Congrats UConn! You guys handed us our worst loss in probably 5 years. Sometimes it be like that...

 

[TC22]

Thoughts on the UConn game:
1. Total domination by UConn in every phase of the game. Never saw us get boat raced before, but that’s what it was today.
2. This won’t be a popular opinion, but here it is: we’re soft, especially in the paint. Kitts has a lot of determination, and yes, she hits the weight room, but she frequently loses the ball under the basket. Feagin doesn’t fare much better. Edwards needs more muscle. Our three losses showed a common thread: we haven’t replaced Cardoso. Tac not getting meaningful minutes means she’s not the answer, either. Like it or not, our success over the years has been when we had a dominant big.
3. Another poster asked this question: who is our leader inside the lines? Answer: there isn’t one. We have a talented roster, they all get along, and they share minutes without much complaint; but when the train runs off the track, who is willing to pull a teammate aside and get them in line? Raven? Te-hina? To my knowledge, we don’t have a team captain. Everything depends on Dawn’s relationship with each individual player. And maybe that works, but we needed someone today who would hold teammates accountable when turnovers became epidemic. Does not having a dominant personality among our players hurt in this regard?
4. At least it wasn’t a conference game, and LSU lost today. We may have to beat both Texas and LSU in the conference tournament, and we need to fix our problems before the tournament begins. Both Texas and LSU are going to watch the tape of our game today to see how UConn beat us like a drum.

Forever to thee…

I’ve been a season ticket holder for 10+ years. I don’t remember a game where we got drilled like that, even in the Stewie years. You have to tip your hat to UConn though. They were on fire from 3. Not many teams are going to win when the other team hits 13 3s. When you hit from 3 it opens everything up. They were hitting - we were not. It was just one of those days.

Pao Pao is our captain, but she’s not really a fiery get in your face type of leader. She leads more by example. Raven, Breezy and Sania are just great student athletes who do what they are asked to do. Ash was the voice on the court. Dawn will do to Joyce what she did with Aliyah and A’ja. She’ll be the leader next year and will be great at it. Until then, IDK.

The tournament is going to be nuts. Texas has the easiest schedule from here on. They won’t lose another game. We have at Ole Miss, at Vandy, Arkansas and Kentucky. Not an easy last 4 games at all. LSU plays at Kentucky, at Alabama, Ole Miss and Georgia.

That top 4 is still a little up in the air.

Tennessee is in 9th place right now….NINTH. If they end up there they won’t have a bye and will have to play on the first day. IDT they’ll stay there but that’s where they stand today.

In the whole scheme of things it was one game. I’ve no doubt we will move on, and we know we CAN play better. For 5 games against ranked teams in the middle of our season we were just making all the right moves. We need to get back to that.

We also need to credit UConn. They have 3 #1 recruits on their team. Think about that for a minute. We’ve had 1…ever. That’s the best roster in WBB. It just is. They played like it today.

 

[NoSpamHere]

I've been a UConn fan for decades and I have to say our "Rivalry" with you has been most enjoyable, without regards to the outcome of the individual games. Tennessee was a holy war. ND was like spanking your little sister. Playing your crew is really just the two biggest kids on the playground fighting hard for bragging rights, but still able to hang out afterwards and gossip about all the other little people who think they're all that

Anyways, good luck the rest of the way. Hopefully we get our National Championship revenge this year too

 

[Puppy Love]

SC fans- what’s your opinion on why Fulwiley doesn’t start/play more? She’s really terrific and such a burst of energy.

 

[HuskyNan]

Elite 6'4+ post players out of high school in WCBB are a rarity. The fact that SC had 4 back-to-back-to-back-to-back is an even bigger rarity (Coates-Wilson-Boston-Cardoso). I think it might've spoiled us into thinking "who's next up"

I know, right? There are UConn fans that seem to think Geno should sign 2-3 players that are 6-5 or 6-6 every year. I dunno, maybe there’s a Land of the Giants somewhere.

 

[Geew1992]

SC fans- what’s your opinion on why Fulwiley doesn’t start/play more? She’s really terrific and such a burst of energy.

Not a SC fan, but from what I've read from other SC fans, Dawn is loyal. Since Raven was there before Fulwiley, that's why. Not saying I agree. SC is getting zero offense from Raven.

 

[VAUConnFan]

SC fans- what’s your opinion on why Fulwiley doesn’t start/play more? She’s really terrific and such a burst of energy.

Inconsistency. It appears that Coach Staley does not trust her in crucial late game situations. Fulwiley will figure it out eventually.

 

[VAUConnFan]

Not a SC fan, but from what I've read from other SC fans, Dawn is loyal. Since Raven was there before Fulwiley, that's why. Not saying I agree. SC is getting zero offense from Raven.

Raven is going to have a very difficult decision to make come season's end. Her draft stock has not risen and, if she returns, it could very well be to a reduced role. The trajectory of her shot comes off too flat with very little touch. Finding her in this tough spot makes me root harder for her.

 

[GCKSFN4L]

SC fans- what’s your opinion on why Fulwiley doesn’t start/play more? She’s really terrific and such a burst of energy.

Inconsistent, she's a great talent and can take over a game rather easily but her decision making is the biggest issue.

Sometimes she gets into her "overtime" mode and it's at the detriment to the team. It's great when she's hitting but disastrous when it's not. She's a high volume shooter and despite her playing lower minutes among the rotational players she has the highest usage rate and field goal attempts for the team, while also not that efficient.

There's also the defense, she at times doesn't take the defensive side of the ball as seriously from game to game. She's a great defender when she chooses.

Also for those asking, Fulwiley would take Pao Pao place in the lineup not Raven. Fulwiley is everybit of a shooting guard first and foremost. Not to mention that she's currently in the negatives for her ast/tov ratio.

I say all this to say that there's more to her coming off the bench than just seniority. Dawn typically likes a spark off the bench and that's what she provides. Our starting lineup usually consist of consistent and reliable players in their roles. If it was strictly about seniority then Sania or Ashlyn would have started over Chloe last year as well.

 

[Puppy Love]

Inconsistent, she's a great talent and can take over a game rather easily but her decision making is the biggest issue.

Sometimes she gets into her "overtime" mode and it's at the detriment to the team. It's great when she's hitting but disastrous when it's not. She's a high volume shooter and despite her playing lower minutes among the rotational players she has the highest usage rate and field goal attempts for the team, while also not that efficient.

There's also the defense, she at times doesn't take the defensive side of the ball as seriously from game to game. She's a great defender when she chooses.

Also for those asking, Fulwiley would take Pao Pao place in the lineup not Raven. Fulwiley is everybit of a shooting guard first and foremost. Not to mention that she's currently in the negatives for her ast/tov ratio.

I say all this to say that there's more to her coming off the bench than just seniority. Dawn typically likes a spark off the bench and that's what she provides. Our starting lineup usually consist of consistent and reliable players in their roles. If it was strictly about seniority then Sania or Ashlyn would have started over Chloe last year as well.

There’s something about her game that just makes it a joy to watch. You have to think that she will grow out of the consistency issues, and then look out world.

 

[GamecockFam]

Inconsistent, she's a great talent and can take over a game rather easily but her decision making is the biggest issue.

Sometimes she gets into her "overtime" mode and it's at the detriment to the team. It's great when she's hitting but disastrous when it's not. She's a high volume shooter and despite her playing lower minutes among the rotational players she has the highest usage rate and field goal attempts for the team, while also not that efficient.

There's also the defense, she at times doesn't take the defensive side of the ball as seriously from game to game. She's a great defender when she chooses.

Also for those asking, Fulwiley would take Pao Pao place in the lineup not Raven. Fulwiley is everybit of a shooting guard first and foremost. Not to mention that she's currently in the negatives for her ast/tov ratio.

I say all this to say that there's more to her coming off the bench than just seniority. Dawn typically likes a spark off the bench and that's what she provides. Our starting lineup usually consist of consistent and reliable players in their roles. If it was strictly about seniority then Sania or Ashlyn would have started over Chloe last year as well.

In response to @Puppy Love, this is basically my opinion as well. She is a feast or famine kind of player. Typically she shines brighter when the competition gets tough but when things goes wrong, they tend to compound -- she starts trying to force shots and play out of control.

She is going to be an All-star player after she works on her mentals, gets better at reading the defense and can perform in control at the fast pace she likes to play at.

 

[triaddukefan]

Rest up, heal up and get ready for the home stretch.

 

[WBBTakeover]

SC fans- what’s your opinion on why Fulwiley doesn’t start/play more? She’s really terrific and such a burst of energy.

There's more to basketball than highlight plays.

 

[Creature]

I don't believe Tac was a fall back at all.

Tac was offered late in 2023