COLIMBIA, South Carolina (AP) — Freshman Melissaia Folweli of South Carolina has all the respect in the world for the Gamecocks’ class for recent generations led by Alia Boston who won a national championship and made three Final Fours.
Folwilly, McDonald’s All-American, thinks it and Dawn Staley’s trainer Four newcomers can do better.
“I want to come here and do more,” Folweli said Wednesday. “I want to win two championships (the NCAA Tournament). There are a lot of things that haven’t been done and I feel like I have the opportunity.”
Just matching the results of the last four seasons seems daunting.
Boston, WNBA No. 1 overall pickHe was a two-time Southeastern Conference Player of the Year. She and teammates Priya Bell and Zia Cook all earned All-American honors at various times during their four seasons. The Boston anchored team went 129-9 from 2020-2023 including the NCAA crown in 2022.
The run ended last spring with the undefeated Gamecocks falling 77-73 to Kaitlin Clark and Iowa in the National Semifinals.
Five players were drafted from South Carolina’s roster days later in the WNBA, leaving Staley with a large roster of talent but inexperienced starting points.
It doesn’t matter, said Folweli, who said the competition between the newer group and the returnees is strong so far.
“People who don’t know me can call it bad press,” she said of following such a privileged group. “People who have seen me play and really know me as a person know it’s good pressure.”
And some of them will certainly fall to the shoulders of newcomers.
Besides the 5-foot-6 Folweli of Columbia, there are two freshmen in 6-1 Sahnya Jah of Monteverde, Florida and 5-10 Tessa Johnson of Albertville, Minnesota.
Staley brought two transfers to Oregon guard Tae Hina Paopao and forward Sakima Walker, another former Rutgers player who was the NJCAA Division I MVP last season at Northwest Florida Junior College.
Walker, Boston’s 6-5, thinks she’ll have an impact, but somehow that’s all her influence. She said she’s got a mid-range shooter game to make her a versatile performer both indoors and outdoors.
“I know what comes from being in South Carolina,” Walker said. “I know the expectations.”
This fall, the Gamecocks will trail national league champion LSU in the SEC rankings and national preseason standings—a situation the reigning regular-season and tournament champions are not used to.
LSU head coach Kim Mulkey has added to her highly skilled roster that is led by forward Angel Reese and guard Flau’jae Johnson with two of the most talented players from the transfer gate in Louisville’s Hailey Van Lith and DePaul’s Aneesah Morrow.
Van Leith was Louisville’s leading scorer twice in three seasons. Morrow had 53 double-doubles in two seasons. Morrow was scheduled to visit South Carolina, but canceled her plans after her trip to LSU.
“I know I have big shoes to fill,” Walker said. “Especially being in the SEC in general with the level of competition.”
Paopao, a guard from Oceanside, California, who has spent the past three seasons in Oregon State, was impressed by what she saw from South Carolina’s offense to change coasts.
She started all 35 games for the Ducks and averaged 13.1 points with an outfield touchdown that could boost the Gamecocks. South Carolina, which has relied on post play the past few seasons, is seventh in the SEC contest by three points and only Auburn or Georgia have scored three fewer than the Gamecocks’ 448 in a league game.
As a senior, Paopao has the experience and willing voice to lead a team with Kamilla Cardoso being the biggest returner at 18.8 minutes played per game in seasons past.
“The first time around, I wanted to stay close to home,” she explained. “This time, I wanted to win, no matter where it took me.”
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