Dawn Staley explains why South Carolina WBB missed out on top transfer portal recruit
Aneesah Morrow, one of the country’s top women’s basketball transfers, caused a bit of a stir last month when she committed to LSU on the day her South Carolina official visit was supposed to start.
It’s all part of the game, according to USC coach Dawn Staley, whose program was one of three finalists for the coveted DePaul forward who’s since joined the reigning national champion Tigers down in Baton Rouge.
Speaking with reporters for the first time since Morrow picked LSU over South Carolina and Southern Cal on May 5, Staley said LSU did a “great job” in landing the nation’s No. 2 overall transfer recruit according to ESPN.
As for Morrow canceling her USC official visit weekend, which had been scheduled for May 5-7, and announcing that she’d committed to an SEC rival instead? It was a risk Staley and her program were willing to take.
“LSU did a great job and they got it done,” Staley said March 31 during the SEC’s annual spring meetings in Destin, Florida. “They got it done on the visit. We wanted to go last, and sometimes when you put yourself in that position, you lose out. But I’m OK with who we bring into the season. Like, I’m good.”
“I mean, Aneesah would have added, obviously, to what we already have, and (it) would have been lovely to have her. But, at the same time, in this whole transfer portal game you win some and you lose some.”
Morrow, a 6-foot-1 forward and multi-time All America selection, averaged 23.8 points and 13.0 rebounds across two seasons at DePaul before entering the transfer portal April 5.
She heard from 30-plus schools before cutting her list down to three finalists — LSU, Southern Cal and South Carolina — on April 16. She set official visits to all three schools on consecutive weekends, with USC, per Staley, requesting the last of those three weekends.
But the star forward never made it to Columbia. After visiting Southern Cal in late April, Morrow wrapped up the month with a weekend visit to LSU, which promptly made the rounds on social media given the flashy gift baskets and photo shoots and fan-base hype it generated.
Five days later, on the day her South Carolina official visit was supposed to begin, Morrow announced she’d committed to LSU. She joined a loaded squad that’ll likely debut as the country’s preseason No. 1 team, with stars Angel Reese and Flau’jae Johnson returning for the national champs and Morrow and Louisville star Hailey Van Lith transferring in.
“Signing with LSU was a tough decision considering my top three choices,” Morrow said in a LSU news release announcing her signing. “However, the university has a great basketball program with an enthusiastic fan base and provides ample opportunities for personal growth both on and off the court.”
A few hours after Morrow’s LSU commitment, former Northwest Florida State College forward Sakima Walker, the reigning junior college player of the year, announced her commitment to USC.
Walker, who played two seasons at Rutgers before leading Northwest Florida to a JUCO national championship, became the Gamecocks’ second transfer commit of the cycle. Former Oregon guard and All-Pac 12 honoree Te-Hina Paopao had committed to the team April 24.
South Carolina hit the transfer portal hard this offseason after losing seven scholarship players — including No. 1 overall WNBA Draft pick Aliyah Boston and four more draftees — from a roster that went 36-1 and nearly pulled off an undefeated season before losing in the Final Four.
Outside of Morrow, Paopao and Walker, South Carolina had also been linked to former Duke guards Celeste Taylor (Ohio State) and Shayeann Day-Wilson (Miami) after adding former Duke assistant Winston Gandy to its staff. Both players ultimately committed to other schools.
Staley said the transfer portal is an unavoidable aspect of college women’s basketball in 2022-23 and something her program is always monitoring.
Transfers Kamilla Cardoso (Syracuse) and Kierra Fletcher (Georgia Tech) played key roles on last year’s squad, which swept the SEC’s regular season and tournament titles.
Earlier in Staley’s tenure, Allisha Gray (North Carolina) and Kaela Davis (Georgia Tech) were major contributors to USC’s first national championship team in 2016-17 after sitting out the previous season under old NCAA rules.
“You have to stay on your toes,” Staley said. “You just have to stay up with it. It’s a part of our culture in women’s basketball and men’s basketball. So you have to be unafraid of it.”
As such, landing some targets such as Paopao and Walker and missing on others such as Morrow is inevitable — just like it is in high school recruiting.
Staley also said she’s confident in South Carolina’s returning players, a group that includes reigning SEC Sixth Woman of the Year Kamilla Cardoso, SEC All Freshman Team pick Raven Johnson, sharpshooter Bree Hall and USA Women’s U19 National Team member Chloe Kitts.
“There were certain things that we were looking for in the portal, and fortunately for us I think we covered it,” Staley said. “And again, the cupboards aren’t bare with who we’re returning.”
The State’s Ben Portnoy contributed reporting.
This story was originally published June 13, 2023 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Dawn Staley explains why South Carolina WBB missed out on top transfer portal recruit."
