South Carolina Dawn Staley signs baby before cutting the elite 8 net
South Carolina manager Dawn Staley signed babies, basketball and shirts for fans before cutting Birmingham’s net, after eight elite wins at South Carolina coaches.
Dawn Staley hasn’t wasted any time going back through her roster.
South Carolina women’s basketball landed a commitment from former Florida State Guard Tanya Rutson on Tuesday via the NCAA relocation portal.
Rutson has finished a big junior season with the Seminoles, averaging 4.6 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 2.2 steels per game as one of the nation’s leading scorers. She also shot 45.1% from the field this season. Her freshman season has just 0.4% off her career 45.5% off the field she set for.
“feelin ‘s cheeky!” Rutson wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday.
Rutson entered the transfer portal on March 27 after Florida State lost to LSU in the second round of the Women’s NCAA Tournament.
Landing Rutson is a big deal for South Carolina. He’s giving Staley and her staff a new scorer to pair with Raven Johnson, Joyce Edwards and Milasia Fullylee. Gamecocks is set to lose Te-Hina Paopao, Bree Hall and Sania Feagin, and all three players will no longer be eligible.
Shortly after Rutson announced his move to South Carolina after five consecutive South Carolina appearances, her new coach broke her silence on social media, bringing her newest player to Columbia, South Carolina.
“A birdie just flew to the nest!!” Staley wrote to X.
As Lulukeshin of Greenville News pointed out, it is also Rutson’s reunion with Johnson, Fully Willey and Edwards. Rutson played high school basketball with Johnson in Florida and AAU basketball for both Fully Wiley and Edwards.
In his three seasons with Florida, Rutson averaged 25.2 points per game, shooting 44.8% off the field. The Miami native on February 27 became the third player in ACC history to score 2,000 career points in his first three seasons when Florida State won the day. 3 Notre Dame.
Rutson is the No. 1 player on ESPN’s Transfer Portal for each Charlie Cream, ranks number one over former Notre Dame Guard Olivia Miles, who reportedly committed to TCU on Tuesday.
South Carolina finished 34-4 throughout the season while finishing nationally in the Women’s NCAA Tournament after 82-59 dropped to UConn in the National Championship Game on April 6th.