She goes by “Gotti” in the South Carolina locker room. And by the time the 2025-26 season was over, the rest of women’s college basketball was saying that name with reverence.
At the Gamecocks Gala — South Carolina Athletics’ most glamorous night of the year, where student-athletes are honored for excellence in athletics, academics, leadership, and community impact — one name rose above all others in the women’s basketball program. Agot Makeer. 2026 Freshman of the Year. Officially, undeniably, deservedly crowned.
But the story of how she got there is one of the most compelling freshman journeys the sport has seen in years.
From Thunder Bay to Columbia: The Making of “Gotti”
Agot Makeer has roots in South Sudan and represents Canada on the world stage. She grew up in Fargo, North Dakota, before moving to Thunder Bay, Ontario in middle school. Basketball ran in the family — her brothers Makeer and Deng both play college basketball — but it was Agot who would carry the family name to the highest levels of the sport.
The 6-foot-1 wing played her final season of high school basketball at Montverde Academy in Florida — one of the most prestigious basketball prep programs in the country — before committing to South Carolina as the No. 6 recruit in the Class of 2025, according to ESPN.
When Dawn Staley announced her signing, she didn’t mince words about what she was getting. “She brings size, speed and versatility to our guard unit with her ability to play multiple positions,” Staley said. “Her ball handling and passing skills enhance her ability to score and spread the defense. Agot is super competitive, talented and has an unlimited ceiling.”
Unlimited ceiling. A phrase that would prove prophetic before the year was out.
A Freshman Season That Almost Wasn’t
The path to Freshman of the Year was anything but smooth. Makeer was in and out with injuries during the season, which caused her to fall down the pecking order at various points throughout the year. The inconsistency was frustrating — for her, and for a coaching staff that could see exactly what she was capable of.
She appeared in 29 games, including six starts, averaging just over 18 minutes per game — putting up 6.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.1 steals while shooting 44.6 percent from the field.
The numbers, viewed in isolation, don’t tell the full story. What they don’t capture is the defensive impact — Makeer held the best defensive rating among South Carolina’s guards at 77.7, tied for second on the entire team, behind only interior anchor Madina Okot.
And they certainly don’t capture what happened when March arrived.
Makeer herself knew something was shifting as the postseason approached. “I feel like my mindset changed. Starting in the SEC Tournament, I just started approaching games differently,” she said. “I just wanted to go and do whatever I can to get the team to win.”
March Turned Her Into a Legend
What Agot Makeer did in the 2026 NCAA Tournament was not a hot streak. It was a revelation.
In the first round against Southern, she scored a career-high 15 points. In the second round against USC, she tied that career-high with 15 more — adding three assists and four steals. In the Elite Eight against TCU, she poured in a career-high 18 points off the bench to help South Carolina advance to the Final Four.
Game by game, the stage got bigger. Game by game, Makeer got better.
She scored a career-high 18 points against TCU while making a career-high eight field goals. She was consistently tasked with guarding Olivia Miles — the Big 12 Player of the Year — making life difficult for one of the most decorated players in the field.
“I feel like all the assistant coaches and everybody has been putting an emphasis on me to elevate,” Makeer said after the TCU win. “For me to rise and just be in that spotlight. I’m in a flow right now. In this tournament, I’ve just thought whatever I can do to get this team a win is what I need to do.”
Then came the Final Four. Then came UConn — the 38-0 juggernaut, the defending champion, the team everyone said couldn’t be stopped.
Against the Huskies, Makeer posted 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting in 28 minutes off the bench — including two three-pointers — as South Carolina advanced to the national championship game. It was her fifth straight tournament game scoring in double figures.
Entering Friday’s game, Makeer had made just 14 of 64 three-pointers on the season — just 21.9 percent. Against UConn, she was 2-of-2 from behind the arc. When the moment was biggest, her shot was purest.
Across her four games before the championship, Makeer averaged 14.8 points, 3.0 assists, and 2.8 steals per game while shooting 55.5 percent from the floor.
Dawn Staley’s Verdict: “She’s Playing Lights Out”
Throughout the tournament, Staley watched her freshman transform in real time — and she made no effort to hide her pride.
“I’m just proud. Just proud,” Staley said. “I could see how talented she is. Like super talented. When the talent isn’t always reaching their potential, but you see it and there’s growth. We never stopped thinking about the contributions that Agot could give to us. It’s always, like, she’s super talented, when is it going to click? And then we just kind of stayed with it. She’s playing lights out. She’s making great basketball plays on both sides of the ball.”
It clicked in March. In the brightest lights the sport has to offer.
And her teammates saw it coming before the rest of the country did. All-American guard Raven Johnson offered the most pointed endorsement. “‘Gotti’ is the X-factor of this team,” Johnson said. “She’s a silent killer. She’s not afraid of anybody, and her confidence is through the roof through this tournament — it’s showing.”
What the Award Actually Means
The Freshman of the Year award presented at the Gamecocks Gala is not a consolation prize. It is not a participation trophy handed out for potential. It is a recognition of a player who, against every obstacle — injuries, inconsistency, the crushing adjustment from high school star to college rotation player — found a way to matter when her team needed her most.
Makeer said her defensive mindset was central to everything she brought. “It’s to impact both sides of the ball,” she said. “Definitely getting deflections, getting steals, but also getting up the floor and trying to make plays for myself and others.”
And when asked about the mental side of competing at this level as a teenager, she delivered the most clarifying quote of her entire freshman season: “I’d say just fearing nobody. I feel like that’s the big part, the mental game. Just believing in myself that I can hang with the best of the best has been very good for me.”
Fear nobody. Play everywhere. Elevate when it counts.
That is the Agot Makeer story. That is why the Gamecocks Gala crown landed exactly where it belonged.
What’s Next: A Sophomore Who Already Knows She’s Coming
The award is beautiful. But here’s what should genuinely alarm the rest of women’s college basketball: Makeer is just getting started.
She enters her sophomore season as a proven postseason performer, with the experience of a national championship run under her belt, surrounded by the deepest roster South Carolina has assembled in years. Jordan Lee is coming in. Chloe Kitts is returning from her ACL. Ashlyn Watkins is coming back. Oliviyah Edwards — one of the most electric freshmen in the country — will be a teammate.
The player who averaged 6.6 points per game during the regular season averaged nearly 15 in the NCAA Tournament. Imagine what she does in year two, with the game slowing down, her body fully healthy, and an entire offseason of confidence fueling every practice rep.
From Thunder Bay to Columbia. From injured reserve to Freshman of the Year. From “when is it going to click?” to five straight double-figure tournament games.
“Gotti” clicked. And she’s only just begun.
