South Carolina Basketball

Dawn Staley and the South Carolina women's basketball team will head into this season's NCAA title defense with a No. 1 ranking in the AP Top 25 preseason basketball poll.

Here are the complete results of the poll released Tuesday:

1. South Carolina
2. UConn
3. USC
4. Texas
5. UCLA
6. Notre Dame
7. LSU
8. Iowa State
9. North Carolina State
10. Oklahoma
11. Duke
12. Baylor
13. Kansas State
14. Ohio State
15. North Carolina
16. West Virginia
17. Louisville
18. Maryland
19. Florida State
20. Ole Miss
21. Creighton
22. Kentucky
23. Nebraska
24. Alabama
25. Indiana

Other schools that received multiple votes for a place on the top 25 list were Iowa, TCU, Utah, Illinois, Stanford, Michigan State, Gonzaga, Vanderbilt, South Dakota State, Miami, Tennessee, Fairfield, Middle Tennessee and Georgia Tech, per the AP.

Syracuse and Princeton received one vote each.

This marks the first time in 25 years that Stanford has not been ranked among the top 25 in the preseason poll, per Doug Feinberg of the Associated Press. The Cardinal's drop follows the retirement of longtime head coach Tara VanDerveer in April.

Also for the first time in 25 years, No. 24 Alabama has qualified for a top-25 spot in the preseason rankings after consecutive NCAA Tournament bids, Feinberg noted.

The recent expansion of the SEC to include No. 4 Texas and No. 10 Oklahoma makes the conference the most heavily represented in the poll with seven top-25 programs, followed by six ACC teams and six Big Ten teams.

South Carolina received the vast majority of 30 first-place votes with 27. The remainder were split between UConn (two first-place votes) and USC (one first-place vote).

The Gamecocks have been ranked No. 1 in four of the past five preseason polls, Feinberg noted. Last season they missed out on the spot only to go on to win the national championship.

UConn earned the No. 2 spot to mark the program's 30th straight top-10 preseason poll ranking, per Feinberg.

Three top-25 programs saw significant changes by more than 10 spots in the poll since the end of last season, including risers Np. 8 Iowa State and Oklahoma. Both programs are returning most of their top scorers from last season, and Iowa State has now earned top-ten AP rankings in football, men's basketball and women's basketball.

Indiana meanwhile plummeted 13 spots to No. 25 since losing star forward Mackenzie Holmes to the 2024 WNBA draft.

The NCAA women's basketball season begins Nov. 4.

South Carolina women's basketball star Kamilla Cardoso has declared for the WNBA draft, she announced on her Instagram Monday.

Cardoso averages 14.1 points and 9.4 rebounds per game this season for the Gamecocks. The center is the projected No. 4 overall pick in ESPN's latest WNBA mock draft.

The announcement comes ahead of South Carolina's Final Four matchup with NC State. The No. 1 Gamecocks took down No. 3 Oregon State in the Elite Eight and now will look to get past the No. 3 Wolfpack to reach the national championship game.

Had Cardoso elected to stay in college, she would have had one season of eligibility left.

Cardoso, a senior, began her career at Syracuse, but transferred to South Carolina after just one season. She helped the Gamecocks win a national championship in the 2021-22 season, though she was coming off the bench at that point. After coming off the bench again in the 2022-23 season, Cardoso got called to the starting lineup this season and has thrived.

The defensive anchor for South Carolina, she averages 2.5 blocks per game and makes an impact on nearly every shot inside the paint.

Before Cardoso heads to the draft, she'll look to lead South Carolina to a second national championship in three seasons. The undefeated Gamecocks have been dominant all season and haven't let up in the tournament. Now, just NC State stands in their way of reaching another national championship game.

South Carolina women's basketball star MiLaysia Fulwiley is the latest athlete to land a name, image and likeness deal with one of the NBA's biggest stars.

Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry's signature Curry Brand is signing Fulwiley to a multiyear NIL deal, according to The Athletic and Stadium's Shams Charania. She is the first college athlete to partner directly with Curry Brand.

While Fulwiley is the first player to directly partner with Curry Brand, UConn's Azzi Fudd became the first college player to sign an NIL deal with an NBA player in December 2021 by signing with Curry's SC30 Inc.

SC30 Inc. is the "umbrella company that covers all of Curry's endeavors," according to The Athletic's Marcus Thompson II and Charlotte Carroll.

"There are potential opportunities with Curry Brand, a subsidiary of Under Armour, the media company Unanimous, the non-profit Eat.Learn.Play. and numerous brand partnerships Curry has with companies like Google, Rakuten, CarMax and Subway," The Athletic wrote of Fudd's deal at the time.

Fulwiley's deal with Curry Brand is for four years, her mom, Phelliccia Mixon, told Payton Titus of The State.

Prior to committing to South Carolina, Fulwiley played for Curry's AAU Team Curry and received an invite to his Curry Camp in 2022. She also won four high school state championships in South Carolina and accumulated more than 3,000 points in her high school career.

Fulwiley has emerged as one of the most impactful freshmen in all of women's college basketball and she should only continue her rise to fame during the NCAA Tournament as the Gamecocks chase another title under Dawn Staley.

Fulwiley became the first freshman to win the SEC Tournament's MVP award since Candace Parker, who played at Tennessee. She's averaging 11.8 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 32 games while shooting 44.4 percent from the floor and 32.4 percent from deep.

South Carolina will found out its first opponent in the NCAA Tournament with Selection Sunday coming up this weekend.

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South Carolina's women's basketball team keeps rolling.

The Gamecocks defeated Georgia 70-56 in Sunday's SEC showdown and improved to 25-0 overall and 12-0 in conference play while making history in the process. It was South Carolina's 43rd consecutive regular-season conference win, which Pete Iacobelli of the Associated Press noted is a league record.

The Tennessee Volunteers set the previous record in the 1990s with legendary head coach Pat Summitt leading the way.

"I'm just proud of the former players and the current players to put together some of the most historical stretches in this league," head coach Dawn Staley said. "It says something to be able to do that because this is a hard league."

South Carolina hasn't just been winning, it has been dominating.

Of its 25 wins this season, only three of them have been by single digits. Those victories were over North Carolina, Utah and reigning-champion LSU, which was the team's only regular-season matchup against the Tigers.

As for the latest win, Kamilla Cardoso spearheaded the effort with 16 points, 16 rebounds, five assists, three steals and three blocks in 27 minutes of action. It was her 12th double-double of the season and second in as many games.

Next up for South Carolina is a matchup against Alabama on Thursday.

For highly touted power forward GG Jackson, the second time might be the charm.

Jackson announced Saturday he's committing to South Carolina and reclassifying to the 2022 class.

This comes after the Columbia, South Carolina, native announced he was decommitting from North Carolina and reopening his recruitment. Travis Branham of 247Sports also reported reclassifying was on the table.

Jackson's announcement sent significant ripples across the college basketball landscape because he was the No. 1 power forward and No. 2 overall player in the 2023 class, per 247Sports' composite rankings.

The Tar Heels aren't used to losing blue-chip talent, either. ESPN's Jeff Borzello noted this was the program's first decommitment since J.R. Smith in 2003. In that instance, Smith spurned UNC in order to take the leap to the NBA.

It only takes one look at Jackson's highlight reel to understand what all the hype is about:

247Sports' Eric Bossi described Jackson as "a major problem on the offensive end" and "ahead of the curve" on defense:

Over the last year, Jackson has made significant improvements when it comes to his skill level. He is a more than capable jump shooter, has a nice jump hook and he's become a real threat to face up and attack off the dribble. His passing has some room for growth but he's improved greatly when it comes to recognizing double teams and finding an open teammate. On the block he has an advantage because of his quickness and while his perimeter ability is what may allow him to create distance between himself and other big men in the class, he has to be careful not to float around out there too much.

The Gatorade Boys Basketball Player of the Year in South Carolina, he averaged 22.1 points, 10.9 rebounds and 2.3 blocks while helping Ridge View High School win a state title.

The odds of Jackson sticking around with South Carolina for more than a season are slim since he'll likely project as a top-10 NBA draft pick after his freshman year. But he can make that one season count as a member of the Gamecocks.

There's also the impact of what this says about first-year head coach Lamont Paris.

The 47-year-old is only just getting settled and has already snagged the highest-ranked recruit since at least 2000. Jackson's 0.9993 composite rating puts him just above PJ Dozier (0.9904).

Even when Jackson decommitted and it looked like South Carolina had a shot, some within the fanbase probably remained skeptical this would actually happen.

Players this good simply don't show up in Columbia unless they're on an opposing team. The aforementioned Dozier was the 25th-best player in 2015.

That's why Frank Martin was unable to build on the Gamecocks' trip to the 2017 Final Four—Dozier was the second-leading scorer on that squad.

In an era of name, image and likeness, Paris might have better luck consistently landing strong recruiting classes, the kind that can make South Carolina nationally relevant.

5-star power forward GG Jackson, who 247Sports ranks as the top prospect in the men's basketball class of 2023, announced on social media that he has decided to decommit from North Carolina.

Earlier Thursday, Travis Branham of 247Sports reported that Jackson planned to decommit from UNC and enroll early at South Carolina.

"According to multiple sources, Jackson is expected to decommit from North Carolina and enroll early at hometown South Carolina—an announcement that is expected to come in the next two weeks," Branham wrote.

Jackson plays high school ball at Ridge View in Columbia, South Carolina, the home of the Gamecocks.

Like 247Sports, Rivals also ranks the 6'9", 210-pound Jackson first, and the same goes for On3. ESPN ranks Jackson sixth on its 2023 prospects list.

Losing Jackson is a tough loss for the Tar Heels, although they still have another 5-star prospect coming to town in 2023 in Roselle Catholic (New Jersey) combo guard Simeon Wilcher, ranked 14th in 247Sports' composite rankings.

UNC head coach Hubert Davis is also bringing in a deep class of 2022 with a quartet of 4-star recruits.

The Heels' loss would be South Carolina's huge gain.

The Gamecocks made the Final Four in 2017 as a No. 7 seed, but they haven't made the NCAA tournament since. SC is now under the leadership of a new coach with Frank Martin out and ex-Chattanooga leader Lamont Paris in.

Paris just led the Mocs to a 27-win season, an NCAA tournament berth and a near first-round upset over No. 4 Illinois, and his tenure in South Carolina will get off to a tremendous start if he's officially able to land Jackson.

Despite a disappointing 2020-21 season, South Carolina has given men's head basketball coach Frank Martin a contract extension. 

Per Pete Iacobelli of the Associated Press, Martin's extension was approved by the school's board of trustees and ties him to the Gamecocks through the 2024-25 season. 

Iacobelli did note that Martin's extension doesn't come with a raise, nor will he receive a buyout if the school fires him in the final two years of the deal.

Martin has been at South Carolina for nine seasons since being hired in March 2012. The 55-year-old previously spent five years as head coach at Kansas State, where he led the program to the NCAA tournament four times. 

During his nine-year run with the Gamecocks, Martin has posted two 20-plus-win seasons in 2015-16 and 2016-17. Their one appearance in the NCAA tournament during the 2016-17 season included a run to the Final Four before losing to Gonzaga. 

South Carolina's 6-15 record in 2020-21 was its worst since going 8-21 in 1998-99. It was also the program's first losing season since Martin's second year at the helm in 2013-14. 

The Gamecocks have gone 153-134 overall with Martin as head coach. 

South Carolina men's basketball will be placed on two years of probation after the NCAA concluded its investigation against former assistant coach Lamont Evans.

The NCAA announced Thursday that Evans violated NCAA ethical conduct rules when he took bribes in return for setting up meetings between agents and South Carolina student-athletes.

Other penalties were self-imposed by the school, including a $5,000 fine and reduction of recruiting visits. Evans will have a 10-year show-cause order that could keep him from another job in college basketball.

He was previously sentenced to three months in prison for accepting bribes.

Evans was also at the center of the investigation that resulted in a postseason ban for Oklahoma State.

He joined the Cowboys staff in 2016 after serving at South Carolina from 2012-16.

In 2017, Evans was one of four assistant coaches who were arrested and later pleaded guilty to bribery conspiracy. He allegedly solicited bribes and gifts from a cooperating witness with the FBI along with agent Christian Dawkins.

South Carolina is 5-12 in 2020-21 under head coach Frank Martin.

South Carolina men's basketball coach Frank Martin said Friday he's tested positive for COVID-19 for a second time after an initial coronavirus diagnosis in May.

"I'm feeling good now, but this thing kicked my tail this time around," Martin told reporters. "Physically, I feel fine right now, just waiting to get out of isolation and then do all the medical tests that come with the aftercare of this thing. I think it's important that we comprehend that I have dealt with it on two different occasions."

The Gamecocks announced Martin, along with assistant coach Chuck Martin and staff member Doug Edwards, won't travel to Saturday's SEC road game against LSU because of COVID-19 protocols. Bruce Shingler will serve as the team's interim head coach.

This article will be updated to provide more information on this story as it becomes available.

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