South Carolina’s Freshman Class Already Elevating The Gamecocks
Most college basketball programs hope to find one player in a recruiting class who can push the team to the status of a national title contender. Early in the collegiate careers of Brea Beal, Aliyah Boston and Zia Cooke, it looks like the University of South Carolina may have found three such players.
Bringing the class, which also includes Olivia Thompson and redshirt frosh Laeticia Amihere, to Columbia was a tremendous win for Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley before any of the five set foot on the court. Staley recounts her experience of the commitments of Beal, Boston and Cooke.
Staley said Beal’s commitment was a short process and they actually knew before she made her announcement. Cooke drew it out in comparison according to Beal, due to uncertainty, but her eventual commitment relieved Staley. Boston’s commitment was probably the most emotional of the three as Staley remembers.
“Aliyah was a little bit different in that she had a specific date in which she was going to commit and it was after she had taken all of her visits,” Staley said. “She had it set for one day and then she moved it to the following week. I remember it was a Tuesday just before Thanksgiving. We were going to Vancouver for a Thanksgiving tournament. She was on the phone and she was crying uncontrollably, I thought it was going the other way. She couldn’t get her words out and I was trying to get her to a point where she could at least say it. I thought she was letting me down easily but she fought through her tears and she said I’m just letting you know that I’m going to take your scholarship and come to the University of South Carolina. I was floored, I was absolutely floored.”
Staley states none of the five had any communication with the others during the recruitment class but feels each made her individual commitment because she wanted to win. Brea, Boston and Cooke each had their own different spins on the situation, however.
Beal says that the honest and upfront nature of the coaching staff drew her to the program. For Boston, it was a feeling that South Carolina was the best fit. Cooke highlighted a family atmosphere on the team. Regardless of the motivation, those three players are all now averaging at least 20 minutes per game for the top-ranked team in the nation in the 2019–20 season’s first HerHoopStats rating,
Staley says that her freshman really haven’t taken any significant steps backward in their development to the college game, and it’s hard to disagree with her. A defining moment for the entire team so far this season was an early top-billed match with Big-Ten favorite Maryland in College Park.
Both Boston and Cooke scored in double figures on national television and Boston blocked five shots. Beal grabbed 10 rebounds and recorded four assists as the Gamecocks recorded the 63–54 win. Beal spoke about the effects of that win.
“Winning a game like that is big,” Beal stated. “A year before I’m sitting on the couch and watching them play games like that, to be out there is a crazy thing. It did boost my confidence a lot because now I understand I wasn’t put in this position for no reason. To be out there and play in games against big names like Maryland and be able to get the win is a great thing.”
Cooke pointed to her team’s defense in that contest, and the stats agree. South Carolina limited the Terrapins to just 31.4% shooting in the contest, including only 2-for-16 from beyond the 3-point line. Through the team’s first seven games, the Gamecocks were untouchable, not only winning all of those contests but surpassing the century mark three times.
The Gamecocks then met another Big Ten foe at the Paradise Jam and for the first time proved mortal. The Indiana Hoosiers shot almost 53% percent from the field and forced 18 South Carolina turnovers to hand the Gamecocks their only loss of the season 71–57. Indiana only allowed Boston to grab two rebounds in the contest. Beal and Cooke went a combined 8-for-29 from the field in the game.
That was the first taste of adversity for the freshman class, and Staley spoke about how she believed they would respond earlier in the season when that time came.
“They aren’t perfect but they can make adjustments on the fly,” Staley explained. “If we tell them we need to do things this way, they just do it. They often have questions about how to do it right because they want to do things perfectly but still, the level of belief and trust is very high. They know they are capable. It’s been a total pleasure.”
True to Staley’s prediction, South Carolina bounced back to win the final two games of the Paradise Jam, which included a 74–59 win over defending national champion Baylor. As the Gamecocks continue through their march toward March, the team is undeterred by its schedule, which includes perennial powers like Arkansas, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Texas A&M and UConn.
“Winning games like that gives me confidence, but I look at every game the same way,” Cooke elaborated. “I just want to win. I’m new to this so I don’t know who is or isn’t good.”
A deeper dive shows why Cooke’s confidence is justified. South Carolina’s cumulative opponents are shooting just 29.8% from the field right now. Only two teams in the country average more rebounds per game, and South Carolina has an offensive rebound rate of 44.1%. Boston is a big reason for both of those impressive stats. Nearly half of her 7.5 rebounds per game are offensive and her 3.2 blocks per game average is tops in the country.
“It comes down to going over scouting,” Boston commented. “I focus on what they’re running and seeing on film some people like how they turn the corner and pop, how to move that person and where I can come in if I need to help. That’s how I get a lot of my blocks, just knowing my opponent and what they’re going to do next.”
Boston’s 64.9% shooting from the field is a big reason why defenses collapse when she gets the ball and that patience is paying off her as well, as she has a 2.67 assist-to-turnover ratio. There are equally impressive stats for Beal and Cooke.
Cooke is averaging 10 points per game because of her ability to pick her spots. She’s shooting 34.4% from 3-point range despite the fact that she’s attempting as many as any of her teammates. Beal contributes six rebounds with nearly two assists per game as well.
That doesn’t mean the three have nothing to improve upon, however. Beal averages more turnovers than assists so far this season and Cooke is shooting under 34% from inside the arc. Boston is only averaging 2.6 free-throw attempts per game, a number that could be much higher given her presence on the offensive end.
The beauty of the situation, however, is that these three players are just 11 games into their collegiate careers. They not only have time to mature as individuals but as a class. Cooke explained it best.
“No one knew we were going to be this good,” Cooke exclaimed. “We are focused on working harder than our competition, especially on defense.”
The rest of the story on the class of 2019 at South Carolina is unfolding. Given what the early chapters have looked like, the Gamecocks should be confident about both the present and the future.
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All stats are compiled from Her Hoop Stats and reflect games through Thursday, December 19.
