Agot Makeer Delivers a Golden Summer as Canada Punches Its Ticket to 2028
Makeer Caps Breakout Summer by Leading Canada to Olympic Qualification
Agot Makeer’s summer with the Canadian national team ended in the best way possible. The South Carolina sophomore helped Canada capture the FIBA Women’s Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament outright, a title that punches Canada’s ticket to the 2028 Olympic Qualifying Tournament and caps a run through Guadalajara, Mexico, that Canada finished undefeated.
The path to the title ran through two increasingly difficult knockout games. Canada dispatched New Zealand 86-71 in the semifinals before closing out host Mexico 83-53 in the championship game — a dominant finish for a team that had to beat the tournament’s most motivated squad on its own floor.
Makeer’s role expanded significantly as the stakes rose, and her production followed. Across the full tournament, she averaged 8.2 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in just 14 minutes per night, but those numbers understate how much she elevated in the biggest moments. In the semifinal win over New Zealand, she scored 11 points to go with two rebounds and two assists in 17 minutes; in the final against Mexico, she was even better, posting 13 points, three rebounds, and three assists in 19 minutes of work — her best performance arriving exactly when Canada needed it most.
That knockout-stage surge built on a strong group stage. Makeer opened the tournament with four points, five rebounds, and a team-best plus-18 rating in a 72-57 win over Senegal, then added nine points and two steals in an 85-38 blowout of the Philippines, before contributing four points and two rebounds in a tighter 70-64 win over Mexico in group play — a preview of the tougher final matchup to come.
Makeer’s path to this title wasn’t guaranteed early on. She attended Canada’s first training camp in June but skipped the second, which closed with an exhibition against UCLA. Her inclusion on the tournament roster anyway reflects the youth movement underway on Canada’s senior team, coached by Nell Fortner — the former Auburn and Georgia Tech coach who also led USA Basketball to Olympic gold in 2000 — alongside assistants Christie Sides and Noelle Quinn. That youth movement has pushed college talents like Makeer, BYU’s Delaney Gibb, and Washington’s Avery Howell into larger roles ahead of established veterans such as Shay Colley, Natalie Achonwa, and former Gamecock Laeticia Amihere, who is currently occupied with WNBA commitments.
Makeer’s rise at the international level tracks closely with her trajectory at South Carolina. As a freshman, she averaged 7.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists before catching fire in the NCAA Tournament, where she averaged 14.0 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 2.3 steals while shooting 46.2% from three — a stretch that earned her an All-Region selection. That trajectory of stepping up on the biggest stages has now carried over to the international game, first at the 2024 U17 World Cup, where she averaged 17.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 2.3 assists en route to an All-Star Five nod and a silver medal, and again at the 2025 U19 World Cup, where Canada finished fourth after Makeer narrowly missed a bronze-medal-winning shot at the buzzer.
Makeer holds dual U.S.-Canadian citizenship but has consistently chosen to represent Canada internationally — a decision that’s now paid off with an Olympic Qualifying Tournament berth to show for it.
Not every Gamecock finished their summer with the same outcome, though. Fellow sophomore Ayla McDowell played for Brazil’s senior team at the FIBA South American Qualifier, averaging 17.8 minutes, 4.8 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.3 assists and helping Brazil secure bronze — enough to qualify for next year’s AmeriCup. But McDowell didn’t get the chance to chase Olympic qualification directly; Brazil fell to Mexico in the other Pre-Qualifying semifinal and will now have to earn its way into the Qualifying Tournament through the AmeriCup instead.
The summer’s international slate has been a showcase for the depth of South Carolina’s roster well beyond Makeer and McDowell. Joyce Edwards won gold with USA Basketball’s 3×3 team in June, Alicia Tournebize’s push for a spot on France’s World Cup roster was cut short by a finger injury sustained August 21, and program alumnae Aliyah Boston and A’ja Wilson both earned selections to the USA Basketball World Cup roster — rounding out a summer in which Gamecock talent was on display across nearly every corner of the international game.
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