Australian Star Sitaya Fagan Names South Carolina Among Final Three
One of the most sought-after international recruits in women’s basketball has trimmed her list — and South Carolina is still in the hunt.
Early Saturday morning (3:00 a.m. EDT, 5:00 p.m. local time in Australia), Sitaya Fagan, the highly coveted 2026 prospect, announced her final three choices: South Carolina, Texas, and Southern Cal.
Fagan has already made history as the most heavily recruited Australian women’s basketball player ever, collecting an unprecedented 26 scholarship offers.
Her rise to stardom began at the 2024 FIBA U17 World Cup in Mexico, and she followed it up with another standout summer in 2025. At the FIBA U19 Women’s World Cup in Brno, Czechia, Fagan averaged 12.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, helping lead Australia to a silver medal. South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley was courtside for the tournament, keeping a close eye on Fagan while also supporting Gamecock commits Agot Makeer and Ayla McDowell.
Though Louisville was the first program to offer her, the list of suitors quickly expanded to include nearly every NCAA powerhouse. For Fagan, the appeal of college basketball lies in both the chance to play at the highest level and to pursue her degree — a path not every Australian player chooses before going pro.
At 6-foot-2 to 6-foot-4, Fagan combines elite athleticism and versatility with a defensive edge that separates her from many prospects.
“I actually prefer playing defence than offense sometimes,” Fagan told basketball.com.au. “In my earliest stages, I was like, ‘No, I want to score, I want to drop 20,’ but moving on, you learn that defence wins games.”
Should she pick South Carolina, Fagan would make history again, becoming the first Australian player in program history.
