Define down? I think we will be in the latter part of the top 10. UCONN, ND, Baylor, Oregon, Oregon St and MAYBE Louisville return talent and should be very good. Those are the only teams I could see being better then us at least to start the season.
I think they’re solidly going to be in the 12-20 range. Off hand, I think UCONN, Baylor, Texas, Oregon, Oregon State, Notre Dame, Stanford, Mississippi State, Louisville and A&M will all have better teams next year than SC. Possibly more teams.
Let’s face it...without Wilson they looked flat out bad this year. They will not have a shortage for PGs (Bianca, Henderson, Harris, and Cooper), but the lack of good perimeter shooting and front court leaves a lot to be desired.
Jennings is good but hasn’t shown to be a player you can build an offense around. Herbert-Harrigan had some nice moments but was inconsistent this year. Grissett and Williams were underwhelming as freshmen IMO. Saxton was the #50 recruit...not sure I’d expect a big impact from her in year 1. Potential is there, but I’m not convinced this group of forwards will be a strong point for SC.
Perimeter shooting was a major struggle for SC this year, as many players had no confidence shooting from beyond 12-15 feet. Cooper may help in this area but wasn’t a good 3pt shooter at Tennessee. I don’t know enough about Henderson’s shooting ability...but this could be a big weakness again for SC.
They may be better than I predict, but I don’t think the cupboard is nearly as full as it has been the last 5 years. As a result, SC falls out of the title picture for a year (or more).