McDonald's All American Game

[USCrown]

FYI Women's McDonald's All American game on ESPN 2 for anyone interested in seeing 2 of our future recruits. Of note, South Carolina commit Ashlyn Watkins put on a show at the Powerade Jam Fest to join Candace Parker and Fran Belibi as the only girls to ever win the dunk contest.

G Talaysia Cooper
East Clarendon HS (S.C.)
2022 espnW 100 ranking: 18
Signed with: South Carolina

Cooper is a 6-foot guard with immense talent and creativity in her game. Her length and size are well utilized, as she breaks down opponent defenses and gets to the paint for easy scores or drop-offs. She is dynamic in the open court and will bring playmaking abilities with the potential of lockdown defensive skills to South Carolina.

F/P Ashlyn Watkins
Cardinal Newman School (S.C.)
2022 espnW 100 ranking: 12
Signed with: South Carolina

The talented Watkins has also gone viral with multiple dunks. She glides up and down the court smoothly, is one of the best rebounders in the class and also blocks shots regularly. Over her high school career, her touch and range have improved, and she has proved to be able to knock down the perimeter jumper. She brings the potential to be a lockdown defender with tremendous offensive upside to a loaded South Carolina roster.

 

[roosterbell]

Talaysia is ranked at #18 by ESPN but she's still underrated in my opinion. I really like her all around game.

Looking forward to watching both of our recruits develop over the next few years. Both should have outstanding careers.

 

[Milks26]

Talaysia is ranked at #18 by ESPN but she's still underrated in my opinion. I really like her all around game.

Looking forward to watching both of our recruits develop over the next few years. Both should have outstanding careers.

Talaysia was as high as #5 at one point. Others got better in various elements and positions, I guess. Watkins rose in the rankings though. She's the fourth PG in her class and they were all at the game. Kiki Rice and her teammate got Co-MVP but, Cooper had a great offensive night with 15 points couple rebounds etc. I hope Dawn schedules a game with Ucla in the future. I would love to see them go head-to-head.

Man, I wonder where Janiah Barker is going to go now - she's good.

 

[dreuscock]

Good post, what gets me is Gogamecocks mentioned that the two would be playing in the game, but no mention of how well they did. Cooper looks explosive and Watkins will be tough on the boards. I would love to have Barker.

 

[USCrown]

Good post, what gets me is Gogamecocks mentioned that the two would be playing in the game, but no mention of how well they did. Cooper looks explosive and Watkins will be tough on the boards. I would love to have Barker.

Yeah, Cooper was definitely one of the best players in the game. The announcers mentioned that she was a standout player all week during scrimmages, practices, etc...putting up crazy stats. Credit to Dawn for getting on her early (7th or 8th grade or so IIRC), as we were her first offer. Plenty of schools tried to use our depth as a negative during recruiting, however I'm glad she signed up with the garnet and black. Dawn continues to reel them in, and we look to be in play for a few of the top recruits in the nation over the next couple of years.

No doubt in my mind on the men's side if we give the players a reason to come, they will come. (show improvement, big wins, regular tourney appearances, put players in the league etc...) Not only that, it will give the fans a reason to be excited and we can get Colonial Life rocking again (on the men's side) which will only make it a tougher place to play for opposing teams. In this day and age with NIL and the transfer portal, we should be using every opportunity to recruit talent to our advantage.