IT’S GAMEDAY: South Carolina vs. College of Charleston: Preview and Starting Fives for Sunday’s Outdoor Exhibition / sportsearchers.com

South Carolina and College of Charleston meet Sunday at 4 p.m. in a first-of-its-kind outdoor exhibition at Credit One Stadium on Daniel Island — part of the inaugural LinkU Invitational tripleheader. As of this writing the game is a preview matchup rather than a completed result, with South Carolina (0-0) opening its 2026-27 campaign against a Charleston program coming off a historic 27-6 season and its first-ever NCAA Tournament bid.

Series history

South Carolina leads the all-time series 17-9, including a 4-0 mark in the Dawn Staley era, though the teams haven’t met since November 25, 2020. The Gamecocks have won 16 of the last 19 meetings dating back to 1977-78. There’s also a coaching subplot: Staley and Charleston’s first-year head coach Amanda Butler have history dating back to their days at Temple and Charlotte, respectively, with Staley holding a 14-4 career edge in their head-to-head matchups.

South Carolina’s projected starting five

PG: Tessa Johnson — Senior, 6-0
G: Jordan Lee — Junior, 6-0 (transfer from Texas)
Wing: Agot Makeer — Sophomore, 6-2
F: Chloe Kitts — Redshirt Senior, 6-3 (returning from ACL tear)
Post: Joyce Edwards — Junior, 6-3

Edwards enters the season as South Carolina’s top returning scorer (19.2 ppg) and rebounder (6.8 rpg), and is just the third player in program history to earn First-Team All-SEC honors in each of her first two seasons.

College of Charleston’s likely starters

Charleston hasn’t announced an official starting lineup, but based on returning production from last season’s CAA championship roster, the Cougars figure to lean heavily on:

Taryn Barbot — Guard, two-time reigning CAA Player of the Year
Taylor Barbot — Guard, All-CAA First Team, started all 33 games last season
Grace Ezebilo — Forward, reigning CAA Defensive Player of the Year and the conference’s top rebounder

The rest of the lineup remains uncertain under new head coach Amanda Butler, who takes over a program that won both the CAA regular-season and tournament titles last year.

Dawn Staley on the outdoor venue

Staley has spoken directly to the unusual setting this exhibition presents, and her comments have covered everything from the court surface to the sun’s path across the sky.

On her first impression of the temporary court after a walkthrough:

“I mean, the venue is great, the court is great, not slippery. I think people are going to have a great time. I think it’s going to be something that will be repeated for years to come, and hopefully the weather continues to be what it is for us this year, in the future.”

On weather and court-condition concerns heading into the weekend:

“We are real concerned about the court conditions. But we’ve got two games before ours to make a good decision. I think we’re supposed to have good weather too. We’ll see. We’ll call them. We’re not going to put anybody in harm’s way, for sure. I think the bottom line is player safety. And for us, we don’t have a 12 o’clock game, so we’ll be looking out for it.”

On the sun and shade pattern affecting visibility during the later time slot:

“You do. I mean, by the time we’ve — hopefully half of the court will be shaded. If not, you know, I don’t think you’ll have an issue coming this way. The sun’s gonna set that way, so I don’t think anybody will have an issue besides the first game. People at the first game might have an issue seeing.”

What to watch

With South Carolina replacing three starters and navigating a “point guard by committee” approach, and Charleston beginning a new era under Amanda Butler, Sunday’s game offers an early — if imperfect — look at both programs’ identities heading into the 2026-27 season, all set against a backdrop unlike any either team has played in before.