After South Carolina was forced to finish its previous game with only seven healthy players because of injuries and illness, Dawn Staley addressed the team’s condition following Friday’s practice.
“For the most part,” Dawn Staley said. “I don’t know. Every day is an adventure. But I’ll tell you this, whoever we have we’re going to play to the best of our ability.”
During the media-accessible portion of practice, every Gamecock except Madina Okot participated. Staley declined to give any details about why Okot was absent.
Freshman Agot Makeer, who missed the Louisville and NC Central matchups while in concussion protocol, was back on the floor Friday. Staley said Makeer is “better,” but emphasized they’re intentionally not rushing her return.
“With Agot you just have to be careful. We don’t want a second (concussion). We’re very, very careful about how we’re going to use her. It was good to have her in practice doing a little bit of things, but not all things.”
South Carolina was also short-handed against NC Central when Tessa Johnson missed her first game of the season due to illness. Meanwhile, Okot sat out the second half for the same reason, prompting Staley’s postgame remark: “It’s going around.”
This wave of roster hits dates back to July, when Ashlyn Watkins announced she would miss the entire season, dropping the roster to 11. Just weeks before the season opener, Chloe Kitts tore her ACL, reducing the Gamecocks to 10 active players—far fewer than the deep rotations they’re accustomed to using.
Ten games into the season, South Carolina has started with all 10 players available only four times and finished games with all 10 just three times.
The pattern started in the preseason when Ayla McDowell missed the North Carolina exhibition due to illness.
Then Maddy McDaniel left the opener versus Grand Canyon after a knee collision, sidelining her for four games because of both injury and suspension.
Makeer exited the Bowling Green game after getting stepped on, leaving only eight active players at the time. She returned for Clemson but missed the next two games in concussion protocol.
The attrition peaked in the NC Central matchup:
– Makeer was still out
– Tessa Johnson was too sick to play
– And then, with under four minutes left in the first half, Okot left the game sick as well.
Though Okot returned to the bench after halftime, she didn’t re-enter, leaving South Carolina to finish with just seven available players.
After the game, Staley made it clear that her mindset is to focus entirely on the players she has available—and she expects her team to adopt the same approach.
“I only see what’s in front of us. So we had eight today. I only see eight,” Staley said. “We got reduced to seven, I only see seven. We’re going to play the hand that we’re dealt to the best of our ability. We can worry about whatever, whenever. But for me, whoever’s healthy, let us know who’s healthy, and then we can take it from there.”
And while South Carolina’s situation is tough, it’s not the worst in college basketball. Auburn held open walk-on tryouts earlier this year to fill its roster, and two years ago TCU suffered so many injuries it had to forfeit two games and bring in walk-ons midseason just to finish the schedule.
If you’d like, I can also generate a click-bait title for this piece!
