When Allisha Gray and Kaela Davis decided to move on from Columbia after the national championship, it appeared the Gamecocks could have trouble on the wings during the 2017-18 season and beyond.
South Carolina returns starting point guard Tyasha Harris and offensive sparkplug Bianca Cuevas-Moore, who weren't often on the floor together last season until Alaina Coates' season-ending injury forced the Gamecocks to go small. However, after losing starters at the two and three, Dawn Staley may have the two offensive-minded guards share more minutes.
6-foot guard Doniyah Cliney returns for her redshirt junior season as well, and she'll provide wing defense and rebounding, as she has throughout her career in Columbia.
But now, the Staley has an immediate plug-and-play starter in one of the backcourt spots in Penn State graduate transfer Lindsey Spann. She was second for the Lady Lions with 10.5 points per game last season and is a noted sniper from beyond the arc. According to her former AAU coach Robert Hildreth, she's capable of playing the one or the two.
As a graduate transfer, Spann will only fill the void for a year, but she'll be followed by Tennessee transfer Te'a Cooper. A former McDonald's All-American and the top-rated guard in the 2015 class, Cooper averaged 8.6 points per game as a freshman before sitting out last season with a knee injury. She will have two years of eligibility remaining, meaning she will be a senior the same year as Harris.
“Adding a talent such as Te’a Cooper to our Gamecock family complements the players that we have,” Staley said. “Her experience playing against top level competition will be a tremendous addition in sustaining our success.”
Cooper and Spann each have experience at the point, but Staley has some talented wings coming in with the freshman class in Elisia Grissett and Bianca Jackson, two of the top 50 players in ESPNW's rankings.
The 6-foot-1 Grissett, ranked as the No. 23 player overall, is ranked fourth at her position and has the potential to make an immediate impact. Along with Jackson, Haley Troup and highly-touted forward LaDazhia Williams, Grissett is on campus already and participated in the team's first practice Monday.