Five Gamecocks on Wooden Award Watchlist

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina women’s basketball has five entries on the Wooden Award Top 50 Preseason Watchlist, the Los Angeles Athletic Club announced today. Sophomore Joyce Edwards, seniors Raven Johnson, Chloe Kitts and Ta’Niya Latson, and freshman Agot Makeer made the Gamecocks are one of two teams with five players on the list.

Coming off an honorable mention All-America season, Edwards is on every national player of the year preseason watch list this season. She leads the Gamecocks with 18.0 points per game, which ranks sixth in the SEC. Offensively, she is among the league’s top 15 in field goal percentage (.556) and offensive rebounds (3.0 per game). Defensively, she is fourth in the league with 2.3 blocks per game.

Johnson is the Gamecocks’ starting point guard for the last four seasons, ranking eighth in program history in assists and earning her a place on the watch lists for three of the four national player of the year awards. This season, she ranks fourth in the SEC and 24^th in the nation with 6.0 assists per game, and her 3.4 assist-to-turnover ratio is eighth in the conference. The stat-stuffing point guard has two double-doubles already this season, including her 14-point, 11-rebound effort against #8/10 Southern Cal last Saturday. The veteran’s calming presence has been the centerpiece of a team that is still building chemistry while ranked #2/2 in the nation.

Kitts is out for the 2025-26 season after October surgery to repair her right ACL, but the Wooden Award committee included her based on last season’s All-America effort that led the Gamecocks back to the NCAA championship game. She was especially strong in the postseason, earning the NCAA Regional and SEC Tournament MVP honors, and was the team’s top scorer and rebounder in NCAA Tournament action with 10.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game at the event. For the season, she was ninth in the SEC in rebounding with 7.7 per game and averaged 10.2 points on 52.0 percent shooting.

Latson, also on the watch list for every national player of the year award, joined South Carolina this season after a prolific scoring career at Florida State, looking for opportunities to expand and improve her game and her prospects at the next level. Her attention to seeing more of the floor and locking in defensively have done little to cool her offensive prowess. She is 19th in the SEC with 15.3 points per game on a career-best 51.2 percent shooting, which ranks 15th in the league. She is also handing out 3.3 assists per game and helping the Gamecocks lead the nation in field goal percentage defense.

Makeer is turning a solid high school career and international experience with Team Canada into a strong start to her freshman year. The #6 player in the Class of 2025, the long, lithe guard is averaging 6.8 points on 47.4 percdent shooting to go along with 1.3 blocks per game. She is on the watch list for the USBWA’s Tamika Catchings Freshman of the Year award as well.

No. 2/2 South Carolina is back at Colonial Life Arena for a pair of games this week, beginning Wed., Nov. 19, in a 7 p.m. tipoff against Winthrop on SEC Network. The Gamecocks will host Queens University on Sun., Nov. 23, in a 2 p.m. tipoff with the game streaming on SECN+.

Continue to check GamecocksOnline.com and the team’s social media accounts (@GamecockWBB) for more information on the program.

2025-26 Wooden Award Top 50 Watchlist
Janiah Barker, Tennessee
Jasmine Bascoe, Villanova
Raegan Beers, Oklahoma
Lauren Betts, UCLA
Sienne Betts, UCLA
Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt
Madison Booker, Texas
Zoe Brooks, NC State
Addy Brown, Iowa State
Jaloni Cambridge, Ohio State
Aaliyah Chavez, Oklahoma
Talaysia Cooper, Tennessee
Audi Crooks, Iowa State
Jazzy Davidson, Southern Cal
Addie Deal, Iowa
Joyce Edwards, South Carolina
Toby Fournier, Duke
Azzi Fudd, UConn
MiLaysia Fulwiley, LSU
Rori Harmon, Texas
Kayleigh Heckel, UConn
Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame
Ashlon Jackson, Duke
Flau’jae Johnson, LSU
Kymora Johnson, Virginia
Raven Johnson, South Carolina
Reniya Kelly, North Carolina
Chloe Kitts, South Carolina
Gianna Kneepkens, UCLA
Grace Knox, LSU
Kate Koval, LSU
Ta’Niya Latson, South Carolina
Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, Baylor
Agot Makeer, South Carolina
Cotie McMahon, Ole Miss
Olivia Miles, TCU
S’Mya Nicholls, Kansaas
Olivia Olson, Michigan
Khamil Pierre, NC State
Gal Raviv, Miami
Kiki Rice, UCLA
Zee Spearman, Tennessee
Sarah Strong, UConn
Madison St. Rose Princeton
Hannah Stuelke, Iowa
Syla Swords, Michigan
Mikaylah Williams, LSU
Serah Williams, UConn
Payton Verhulst, Oklahoma
Laura Ziegler, Louisville