Through South Carolina women's basketball's dominant 18 years under head coach Dawn Staley, there have been many elite college players to come and go. After Monday night's draft, Staley has now coached 18 players from Columbia to the WNBA.
There are several national champions, several 1,000-point scorers from the program, but the sports section at The Daily Gamecock challenged itself to only pick the six best players — a starting five and a sixth-woman.
Here is The Daily Gamecock's picks for an all-time women's basketball team.
Tiffany Mitchell, guard (2012-16)
Brendan Dougherty, Sports Editor
No. 25 is the first of just two Gamecock jerseys under Staley to be immortalized in the rafters. South Carolina has been long established for its winning ways, but it was Tiffany Mitchell's prior teams that walked so the program could run.
Across four years, Mitchell ended with averages of 13.6 points per game, 4.1 rebounds per game and 1.7 steals per game. She shot 40% from the 3-point line and started 135 of the 139 collegiate games she played.
She racked up considerable hardware in her time as well. Mitchell is a three-time All-American and a two-time SEC Player of the Year. She also won The Dawn Staley Award in her junior year, recognition for the nation's best guard.
Mitchell makes this list as the only player to have never won a national championship, but her seamless connection with A'ja Wilson as an underclassman helped push the program in the right direction. The 2016-17 championship season was just a year too late for Mitchell, who likely deserves a ring just as much as anyone else from that group.
Zia Cooke, guard (2020-24)
John Davis, Women's Basketball Beat Writer
It would be wrong to create an all-time Gamecock squad and not include Zia Cooke. Cooke’s name is littered throughout the South Carolina record book, and she helped the program begin to achieve the unrelenting success all have become familiar with today.
Cooke dominated in conference play, ranking first in field goals attempted in Southeastern Conference games and second in points scored in SEC games in program history. She started 82 consecutive games from November 2019 to January 2022, the third-longest stretch in school history.
Her 137 total starts are the second most in program history. She ranks fifth in school history with 196 career made 3-pointers.
As a freshman, Cooke started in all 33 of the Gamecocks’ contests in the 2019-20 season. She was joined by fellow freshmen Aliyah Boston and Bree Hall, as the three share the program record of games started by a freshman.
She finished her career with an overall record of 129-9, helping the Gamecocks to three SEC Tournament titles, three NCAA Final Four appearances and a national championship victory in 2022.
A'ja Wilson, forward (2014-18)
Will Miller, Managing Editor of Sports and Opinion
When you think of the great players that Staley has coached her 18-year tenure, none are more memorable than A'ja Wilson.
With her jersey hanging in the rafters of Colonial Life Arena and a statue out front, Wilson’s career easily stacks up with any athlete to ever wear the garnet and black, regardless of the sport. Wilson holds 86 school records, which includes the most points, blocks and free throws in a career.
Wilson was a four-time All-American and took home SEC Player of the Year honors three times, the first time anyone had ever done so in the conference. In 2017, Wilson and the Gamecocks made history by winning their first national championship. In that game, Wilson led all scorers with 23 points while also blocking four shots.
She continued to make history in 2018, as she was named as the consensus National Player of the Year while also winning the Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy. The now four-time WNBA MVP doesn't just make a worthy case of being on this list, but as the greatest athlete in South Carolina history.
Aliyah Boston, forward (2019-23)
Tanyon Ziolkowski, Assistant Sports Editor
Aliyah Boston making this squad is a no-brainer.
The 6-foot-5-inch forward played for four seasons in Columbia, leaving her mark all over the South Carolina record books. Boston tops the women’s basketball program in career rebounds (1,493), career triple-doubles (2) and blocked shots in SEC play (165).
Boston was a member of the 2022 national championship squad, conducting one of the most dominant seasons in NCAA history. During that junior campaign, Boston was the unanimous national player of the year, Naismith Defensive Player of the Year and Honda Cup Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year.
Boston played and started in 138 consecutive games for South Carolina, marking yet another program record. During those contests, Boston notched a 129-9 career record.
Kamilla Cardoso, center (2022-24)
Anaston Bell, Baseball Beat Writer
In just her three seasons at South Carolina, Kamilla Cardoso’s impacts helped make South Carolina and NCAA history.
Cardoso was a member of the first group of players to win two national championships (2022, 2024) and was the WBCA Defensive Player of the Year (2024), SEC Defensive Player of the Year (2024) and NCAA Final Four MOP (2023).
Cardoso averaged 9.9 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks and scored over 1,000 points during her time at South Carolina. In her 125 career games played, Cardoso had 74 double-digit scoring games and had 32 career double-doubles.
The top moment of her college career came in the SEC Tournament semifinals, where she banked the game-winning 3-pointer against Tennessee to send the Gamecocks to the SEC finals and held the programs undefeated record.
Sixth woman: Raven Johnson, guard (2021-26)
Jaydon Ford, Assistant Sports Editor
To round out the lineup, no name fits better than Raven Johnson. Johnson is the definition of a winning player.
While her career started with an unfortunate season-ending injury, she’s been healthy since then, holding the record for the most games started in a season with 39. She’s also played 154 games and has only lost nine for a 94.2% winning percentage as a Gamecock.
Johnson has shined in the NCAA Tournament on both ends the floor with the most assists (54) and steals (30) in NCAA Tournament games for South Carolina. She’s helped lead the team to three SEC tournament titles and six Final Four appearances, and she has been a part of two national championship teams.
In college, she’s also shown her ability to pass the ball efficiently, ranking second in assist-to-turnover ratio in a season and first in assist-to-turnover ratio in a SEC season.