South Carolina’s Five Newcomers Lock In Their Jersey Numbers for 2026-27
COLUMBIA — With the 2026-27 season approaching, South Carolina women’s basketball has finalized jersey number assignments for its five newest additions, giving fans another small but meaningful way to start connecting with this year’s incoming class before the ball is even tipped.
The full breakdown
Freshman forward Oliviyah Edwards, known by the nickname “Big Oh,” has claimed No. 0. Junior transfer guard Jordan Lee, arriving from Texas, will wear No. 7 — the same number she carried during her time with the Longhorns, giving her a rare bit of personal continuity through the transfer process. Rounding out the group, freshman guard Jerzy Robinson takes No. 9, freshman forward Kelsi Andrews will wear No. 23, and freshman guard Justine Loubens has been assigned No. 32.
A numbers system still catching up visually
The timing of this announcement comes amid a broader equipment transition across the athletic department — every sport at the university officially moved to Nike as its uniform supplier on July 1. That shift hasn’t yet translated into much visual confirmation for fans, though, as actual photos of the new women’s basketball jerseys have remained scarce so far. For now, these number assignments offer the clearest official detail available about what this year’s roster will look like on the court.
Two genuinely new numbers in program history
A couple of these assignments carry real historical weight. Both Lee and Robinson will become the very first players in South Carolina program history to wear No. 7 and No. 9, respectively — meaning neither number carries any prior program association or legacy to live up to, giving both players a genuinely blank slate to build their own identity around those digits.
Edwards steps into a number with recent, if technical, precedent
Edwards’ situation with No. 0 requires a bit of clarification. Ta’Niya Latson wore No. 00 during her single season under Dawn Staley last year — a visually similar but technically distinct number from the single-digit 0 Edwards will now wear. Because of that distinction, Edwards actually becomes the first Gamecock to wear true No. 0 since Te-Hina Paopao held it from 2023 to 2025, connecting her more directly to Paopao’s tenure than to Latson’s more recent, but numerically different, stint in the program.
Andrews inherits a number with real program pedigree
No. 23 carries some added significance as well. The last player to wear it was Bree Hall, who graduated in 2025, meaning Andrews steps into a number that’s been out of circulation for just one full season. Given that 23 has long carried extra cultural weight in basketball more broadly, Andrews taking on a number so recently worn by a graduated contributor places a bit of added expectation on her as she begins her college career.
A far longer gap for Loubens’ new number
By contrast, Loubens is reviving a number that’s been dormant considerably longer. The last player to wear No. 32 was Elysa Wesolek, a senior during the 2021-22 season — meaning Loubens is the first Gamecock to wear that number in roughly four full seasons. That extended gap gives her a bit more freedom to establish her own identity with the number, without the more immediate comparison a recently-worn digit like Andrews’ No. 23 might invite.
Why these small details matter
Jersey numbers might seem like a minor administrative footnote, but for a program with South Carolina’s depth of recent history and tradition, they carry real symbolic weight — connecting new arrivals to past eras of the program while also, in Lee and Robinson’s case, letting a couple of newcomers establish entirely new numerical legacies of their own. As official uniform photos eventually roll out under the new Nike partnership, these five numbers will be the first concrete marker fans have to start attaching faces and personalities to South Carolina’s incoming class.
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