South Carolina’s Dawn Staley has work ahead with a new group of players

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COLUMBIA, S.C. — Dawn Staley embraced the change on her South Carolina Gamecocks. If only things came a little bit quicker.

Staley opened practice Thursday minus the skilled and accomplished “Freshies,” led by All-Americans Aliyah Boston and Zia Cooke who left a legacy of trophies and championships for this team to match.

Did they also leave a blueprint on how to practice for their younger teammates?

“No,” Staley said quickly. “This is a totally different group. The slate is wiped clean. This is all about this particular group. It’s not a bad thing.”

That is, unless you start counting up all those past players accounted for the past four seasons. They reached the past three Final Fours — and might’ve gone four-for-four if COVID-19 didn’t cancel the NCAA Tournament in 2020 — and won it all two years ago.

Those who’ve left put up more than half of South Carolina’s 80.3 points per game last year

“We can’t erase what took place for the last four years,” Staley said. “But we can start anew and give this team its own identity. … They’re in a good place.”

Expect plenty of changes in who fans will see on the floor this season. At the end of practice, the Gamecocks had Raven Johnson at the point and Chloe Kitts as her backcourt mate. Kamila Cardoso, the 6-foot-7 center who backed up 6-5 Boston the past two years, will likely move into the starting lineup while Staley sorts out which of her long, lanky forwards might see starters’ minutes this fall.

Johnson, who made three starts behind senior Kierra Fletcher a year ago, is making her voice heard by her teammates during early workouts. Johnson, a junior, said she feels more like herself after missing most of her freshman season with a knee injury, then working back into the lineup throughout 2023.

Now, she’s ready to lead.

“It’s got to be a team effort,” Johnson said. “If I’m buying in, everybody’s got to buy in.”

Despite starting fewer games, Johnson played more minutes than Fletcher…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/south-carolina-dawn-staley-ahead-022708181.html

Author : NBC Sports

Publish date : 2023-09-29 02:27:08

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