The Gamecocks are back on campus, and this summer’s work will determine whether South Carolina can chase another national championship with its deepest and most complex roster in years.
COLUMBIA — South Carolina women’s basketball is back.
The program announced its return to summer practice on June 22 with a social media post featuring photos of players working at Carolina Coliseum, captioned simply: “We are soooooooo back!”
The energy behind that post is warranted. What Dawn Staley is assembling for the 2026-27 season may be the most layered roster she has ever coached — a blend of proven starters, returning injury casualties, highly-touted freshmen, and a key transfer that gives the Gamecocks answers at nearly every position. The work that happens over the next eight weeks will set the tone for all of it.
The Rules Framework: More Skill Time, Same Weekly Cap
Before diving into the roster, the summer practice structure matters as context.
Under NCAA rules, teams can begin summer sessions once school starts and run for a period of eight weeks — with the start date left to each program’s discretion. South Carolina began practice on June 24 last summer, making this year’s June 22 start a slight acceleration of that timeline.
Notably, the NCAA changed its summer practice rules in April in a move that takes effect immediately. The previous framework limited skill instruction to no more than four hours per week within an eight-hour total cap covering weight training, conditioning and skills. That four-hour skill-specific ceiling has been eliminated. Teams can now dedicate the full eight weekly hours to skill instruction if they choose, giving coaching staffs significantly more flexibility in how they structure player development time.
For a program integrating two returning injury players, five freshmen and a transfer, that additional flexibility in skill work is not a minor detail.
The Returning Core: Proven Pieces and High Stakes Comebacks
The foundation of South Carolina’s roster starts with its returning starters. Tessa Johnson and Joyce Edwards headline a group that gives Staley experienced contributors who have played meaningful minutes at the highest level of college basketball. Behind them, Maddy McDaniel, Adhel Tac, Agot Makeer, Ayla McDowell and Alicia Tournebize all return as established reserves who understand the program’s system and expectations.
But the two most significant returning players aren’t being counted among the starters or reserves — they’re in a category of their own.
Chloe Kitts and Ashlyn Watkins are back after missing the entire 2025-26 season to ACL injuries, and their returns represent the biggest wild cards on the roster. Kitts tore her ACL in October 2025 and missed the season before it began. Watkins’ situation was more prolonged — she tore her ACL in January 2025, then announced in July 2025 that she was stepping away from both basketball and school for the entire year. Her return is as much about mental and emotional recovery as it is physical.
When healthy, both are difference-makers. Integrating them back into game shape and competitive rhythm is one of the most important tasks of summer practice.
The New Additions: Five Freshmen and a Texas Transfer
South Carolina’s incoming class brings both immediate contributors and long-term investments, and the staff has been deliberate about the distinction.
From the transfer portal, Jordan Lee — a guard from Texas — provides proven college experience at a position where depth and versatility matter. Her familiarity with high-level competition gives her an advantage in adapting to the Gamecocks’ system quickly.
The freshman class of five covers a broad range of readiness:
Jerzy Robinson (Guard, 6-1) arrives as the most college-ready of the group — a polished offensive player who can score at all three levels and projects to contribute immediately. Oliviyah Edwards (Forward, 6-3) has the highest ceiling of anyone in the class, pairing elite athleticism with guard skills in a forward’s frame, though she is raw and likely looking at a developmental season. Kaeli Wynn (Wing, 6-2) is recovering from surgery in December 2025 and will be on a health-first timeline before basketball expectations enter the conversation. Kelsi Andrews (Forward, 6-3) missed virtually her entire senior high school season to injury and will need time to rebuild conditioning before she’s a rotation contributor. Justine Loubens (Wing, 6-1), arriving from France, brings legitimate shooting touch and size but faces the dual adjustment of a new country and a new system simultaneously.
Summer practice is where that differentiation begins to take shape in real time.
The Season Ahead: Paris, Then a Title Chase
South Carolina will open the 2026-27 season on November 2 against Maryland — in Paris. The overseas opener sets an appropriately grand stage for what is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated seasons in program history.
With a roster that could legitimately feature ten or eleven players capable of contributing meaningful minutes, the depth question isn’t whether it exists — it’s how Staley manages it. Integrating two returning ACL patients, developing five freshmen at different stages of readiness, and maintaining the program’s championship standard simultaneously is a genuine coaching challenge.
But it’s also exactly the kind of challenge this program has built itself to handle. Summer practice is where that work begins, and the caption says it best.
We are soooooooo back.
South Carolina opens the 2026-27 season November 2 against Maryland in Paris.
