The preseason curtain has fallen. The cuts are coming. And for thirteen former South Carolina Gamecocks spread across nine WNBA franchises, the gap between a guaranteed roster spot and a developmental contract — or worse, no contract at all — is about to become brutally, irreversibly real. Under the new CBA governing this season, each team carries exactly 12 players with two additional developmental spots available. The math is unforgiving. Not everyone makes it.
Here is the complete, unfiltered accounting of where every former Gamecock stands as the regular season approaches.
Atlanta Dream: The Gamecock Colony Thriving In College Park
The Atlanta Dream have quietly assembled the most concentrated former South Carolina roster in the league — and the preseason performance data makes a compelling case that all three of their Gamecocks are not only safe but positioned to be meaningful contributors from opening night.
Allisha Gray barely played — 10 minutes against Chicago, 10 minutes against Washington — and the analytical explanation is straightforward. The Dream were using the preseason to evaluate younger talent, not re-evaluate a first-team All-WNBA honoree who averaged 18.4 points last season. Gray’s limited preseason action is a feature, not a concern. She is the veteran anchor of this roster, and her three cuts will not involve her name.
Madina Okot used her extended preseason audition to deliver the kind of statistical statement that removes all roster uncertainty. Against Chicago: 23 minutes, 14 points, 11 rebounds. Against Washington: 21 minutes, 9 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks, an assist, and a steal — plus her first professional three-pointer, which she drained as if she had been doing it for years. Her preseason averages of 11.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks per game in 22 minutes are the production profile of a player who has already outgrown the “rookie adjustment period” conversation. Head coach Karl Smesko has already said publicly that he is “really impressed with Madina’s potential” and that she “knows she belongs.” She is roster-safe.
Te-Hina Paopao produced at a level that demands a Year 2 re-evaluation from anyone who underestimated her after her rookie season. Against Chicago: 24 minutes, 13 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, and 3-of-4 from three. Against Washington: 8 points and 2-of-2 from three in 9 minutes. The pace and energy she brings off the bench has become a documented team weapon — Smesko himself credited her specifically for changing the flow of games with her transition speed and defensive intensity. Atlanta still needs three cuts, but none of them will be Gamecocks.
Chicago Sky: Committed To The Cornerstone
Kamilla Cardoso operated on a restricted preseason minute load — 17 minutes against Phoenix, 16 against Atlanta — in a deliberate organizational decision that reflects Chicago’s broader philosophical commitment rather than any uncertainty about her standing. Against Phoenix she contributed 10 points, 4 rebounds, and an assist. Against Atlanta: 3 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks, and a steal.
The analytical context here matters enormously. Chicago traded Angel Reese and restructured their entire organizational future around Cardoso. The Sky are building their next competitive era with her 6-foot-7 presence as the cornerstone of that architecture. Cardoso’s preseason minutes were rationed not because Chicago is unsure about her — they are more certain about her than almost any other decision the franchise has made in years. She is untouchable.
Golden State Valkyries: The Most Precarious Gamecock Situation In The League
Laeticia Amihere is the former Gamecock whose professional situation carries the most immediate uncertainty — and the numbers demand honest engagement with that reality. She appeared in one preseason game, registering 15 minutes, 3 points, 4 rebounds, an assist, a steal, and a block against Seattle.
The structural problem is not her performance — it is her contract. Amihere is on a training camp deal, which means her salary is not guaranteed. Golden State has already trimmed to 13 players and needs one more cut to reach the 12-player mandatory roster. The arithmetic is uncomfortable and unambiguous: Amihere is the most financially exposed Gamecock in the league right now, and the decision about her future with Golden State is imminent.
Indiana Fever: The Raven Johnson Show Has The Entire League Paying Attention
The Indiana Fever’s preseason told three very different Gamecock stories — one of them historic, one of them reassuring, and one of them carrying a quiet strategic tension that the organization will need to resolve this week.
Raven Johnson has been, without qualification, one of the most impressive rookies of the entire WNBA preseason. The comprehensive statistical picture across three games tells the story definitively:
- vs New York: 18 minutes — 6 points, 8 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 steal
- vs Dallas: 21 minutes — 3 points, 5 steals, 5 assists, 1 rebound
- vs Nigeria: 16 minutes — 9 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block
Five steals in a single game against Dallas. Eight assists against New York. Nine and seven against Nigeria. These are not the numbers of a player finding her footing — they are the numbers of a player who arrived at the professional level already operating at a pace that makes her impossible to ignore. Johnson’s defensive impact — the transition disruptions, the anticipation, the relentless positioning — has been the defining story of Indiana’s preseason.
Aliyah Boston and Tyasha Harris both sat out Indiana’s first two games as the Fever rested veterans strategically. Boston made her appearance against Nigeria: 10 minutes, 4 points, 6 assists, and a block in a showing that confirmed her health and her readiness. Harris contributed 12 minutes, 2 points, and an assist in the same game.
The analytical tension here is real and worth naming directly. Indiana still needs three cuts this week, and while all three Gamecocks are almost certainly safe, there exists a scenario — however unlikely — where the organization determines that keeping both Harris and Johnson creates redundancy in their guard rotation. That scenario is remote given Johnson’s extraordinary preseason and Boston’s untouchable status, but it is not zero. Indiana’s roster decisions this week will answer the question definitively.
Las Vegas Aces: The GOAT Arrived In Red
A’ja Wilson rested for the Japan game and then reminded the world of her existence in 23 minutes against Dallas: 18 points, 5 rebounds, an assist, a steal, and a block. She also arrived to media day with red hair, drawing inspiration from Jean Grey of X-Men — which is perhaps the most on-brand character selection possible for the only four-time MVP in WNBA history. Wilson is safe. Wilson is always safe. The only question surrounding A’ja Wilson is how many more trophies she collects.
Los Angeles Sparks: Two Gamecocks Thriving In Uncertain Territory
Sania Feagin and Ta’Niya Latson both delivered productive preseasons for a Sparks organization still carrying 14 players and facing multiple mandatory cuts.
Feagin produced 7 points, a rebound, an assist, and a steal against Nigeria, then followed with 8 points and 3 rebounds against Portland — consistent, efficient contributions from a player fighting to secure her professional future one game at a time.
Latson logged 22 minutes against Nigeria with 7 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds, then added 7 points and 2 assists against Portland — a ball-handling, facilitating profile that gives Los Angeles genuine functional value in their backcourt construction.
The critical analytical note: if either player is cut, both are strong candidates to return immediately on developmental contracts. The Sparks have already signed Laura Ziegler to a developmental deal, establishing the organizational appetite for that roster mechanism. For Feagin and Latson, a developmental designation would be a setback — but not an ending.
Minnesota Lynx: The Painful Reality of Sakima Walker’s Situation
Sakima Walker appeared in two preseason games before Minnesota waived her on April 29. Against Washington: 13 minutes, 4 points, 2 rebounds, 2 blocks, an assist. Against Nigeria: 4 minutes, no statistics. The playing time reduction between games told the story before the waiver wire announcement confirmed it.
Nobody claimed Walker off waivers following her release — which narrows her remaining professional options considerably. Her most realistic path forward is a developmental contract signing, either in Minnesota or with another organization that sees value in a player whose four-minute Nigeria appearance was insufficient evidence to evaluate her full capability. The overseas option remains available as well. Walker’s professional dream is not extinguished, but the road ahead requires another organization to make a phone call that hasn’t been made yet.
Seattle Storm: Zia Cooke’s Fate Hangs In The Balance
Zia Cooke produced the most individually compelling preseason performance of any Gamecock in the league — and is somehow facing the most structurally uncertain situation outside of Amihere and Walker.
Against Golden State: 20 minutes, 12 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds. Against Portland: 18 minutes, 19 points. Nineteen points in 18 preseason minutes. That production level, from a player operating within a team undergoing a “massive rebuild,” is the kind of audition performance that demands organizational recognition.
The complication is contractual. Cooke is on a training camp deal — salary not guaranteed. Seattle still needs three more cuts. The Storm’s rebuilding philosophy means every roster decision is being evaluated through a long-term lens that may or may not have room for a veteran guard operating on a non-guaranteed deal, regardless of what she produced in two preseason games. The decision about Zia Cooke’s place in Seattle’s future is one of the most genuinely difficult and consequential roster calls any team with a former Gamecock will make this week.
Nigerian National Team: Maryam Dauda’s World Cup Question
Maryam Dauda appeared sparingly across Nigeria’s barnstorming schedule — 7 minutes against Los Angeles, 4 minutes against Minnesota, and a DNP against Indiana in the nation’s 105-57 preseason loss. Nigeria now redirects its attention toward the FIBA World Cup in September, and whether Dauda earns an invitation to that training camp remains an open and unanswered question.
The Bottom Line
Of the thirteen former Gamecocks navigating the WNBA’s most consequential roster week of the preseason-to-regular-season transition, the overwhelming majority are safe. Wilson, Cardoso, Boston, Johnson, Gray, Okot, and Paopao are locks. Harris is likely safe. Latson and Feagin are probably safe, with developmental contract fallback options available.
Amihere, Cooke, and Walker are the three former Gamecocks whose professional situations carry genuine, immediate uncertainty — three players whose preseason performances deserved better outcomes than the roster mathematics may ultimately allow.
The cuts begin Monday. The answers arrive before the week ends. And for every former Gamecock still waiting for a phone call that clears their professional future, the next 72 hours will define everything. 🐓🏀
