Dawn Staley Tailing on Kaylor Buse as She Names South Carolina Among Five Finalists, Says Late Offer Actually Worked in the Gamecocks’ Favor
South Carolina has officially cracked the top five for one of the class of 2027’s rising point guard prospects. Four-star recruit Kaylor Buse has narrowed her recruitment to Washington, TCU, Utah, Oregon, and South Carolina, according to On3’s Talia Goodman — a list that puts the Gamecocks in direct competition with three West Coast programs for a player raised on that side of the country.
Buse’s production at West Linn High School in Oregon backs up her ranking. The 5-foot-9 point guard, No. 52 in ESPN’s class of 2027 rankings, earned First Team All-State honors while leading her team to a 6A state championship last season, averaging 15.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 2.6 steals per game — a complete stat line that reflects a player capable of scoring and facilitating in equal measure.
Compared to her other finalists, South Carolina came to the table late. Dawn Staley didn’t extend a scholarship offer until July 29, announced publicly by Buse on social media. Rather than viewing that delay as a disadvantage, Buse has framed it as beneficial to how her relationship with the program has developed, telling On3, “I’m probably getting to know them more out of everyone else, just because it kind of came out a bit later. I think it was kind of a perfect time in my recruitment, just because like I think my recruitment’s been a very different process from I think a lot of people. I don’t think any of these are too late or it puts people at a detriment if they came in late.”
Distance is the clearest hurdle South Carolina faces in this recruitment. West Linn sits nearly 3,000 miles from Columbia, a gap that looms over any West Coast recruit’s decision to head south. Staley may have a built-in advantage here, though — her staff has already found success recruiting the West Coast, landing freshmen Kaeli Wynn out of California and Jerzy Robinson, who played in California after starting in Arizona. Both could plausibly be used as evidence for Buse that the cross-country jump is one worth making.
Buse’s visit schedule reflects the stakes South Carolina is working against. She’s already completed an official visit to Washington and has trips planned to each remaining finalist, but her final visit — arguably the most important slot on the calendar — will be an October 3 trip to Columbia to spend time with Staley’s program. She’s clearly looking forward to the experience, saying, “I’m excited to get on campus and meet the girls. Their fans are hilarious. Their fans are like blowing up each post. I’m just excited to be on campus, I think with that one, and see if the distance will be an indicator or not.”
Even with the distance question unresolved, Staley’s personal reputation appears to be doing plenty of the recruiting work on its own. Three national championships and 511 wins across 18 years tend to speak for themselves, and Buse’s first conversation with the coach left a lasting impression: “Dawn is exactly who you think she is. It was kind of crazy calling her for the first time. That kind of felt unreal just because she’s Dawn Staley. I wasn’t shocked at all. She’s super down to earth and just very pure communication.” She added further praise for how Staley talks about her program, saying, “You can tell what she’s about through the way she speaks highly of her players and of her program. I think every head coach is going to do that, but she just does it to a really authentic level.”
Buse isn’t the only marquee 2027 name South Carolina is chasing this cycle. Five-star prospects Jezelle “GG” Banks and Jordyn Palmer have both already locked in official visits with the Gamecocks. Banks, ranked No. 4 nationally, and Palmer, ranked No. 7 and slated to visit in September, give South Carolina three legitimate shots at landing elite backcourt talent from the same recruiting class — a sign of how aggressively Staley’s staff is building toward the future even as the current roster remains championship-caliber.
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