The University of South Carolina women’s basketball team currently features 6 players from the state of Georgia, all of them freshmen (Lauren Falohun is a redshirt freshman, having spent her first season rehabbing a serious knee injury). Head coach Susan Walvius has just announced the early signing of 5 players for the class of 2012 and four of those players are also from Georgia.

Charenee Stephens of Decatur, GA is ranked the fifth-best forward in the nation by Scout.com. She is a 6-1 senior who averaged 18 points and 11.6 rebounds, last season, and was named a first-team Class AAAA All-State selection. Hoopgurlz.com has Stephens ranked as the 33rd best player in the class of 2008. Stephens also played on the same national championship AAU team (Georgia Metros) that included current Gamecocks Ashlie Billingslea and Courtney Newton.

Taylor Dalrymple is a 6-2 forward who played her first 3 years of high school at Collins Hill High, as the Lady Eagles won 3 consecutive Georgia Class AAAAA state championships. (She played on that team with current Gamecock sharpshooter Jordan Jones and also played with fellow signee Stephens on the AAU’s Georgia Metros.) Dalrymple was a first-team all-region selection in 2006 and was rated as high as the eleventh best power forward in the nation by Hoopgurlz.com.

Sada Wheeler of East Hall in Gainesville, GA is the third signee. Wheeler was the Gainesville Times 2007 Player of the Year and led the Lady Vikings to the Georgia Class AAA state championship. Wheeler is a 6-4 center who averaged 13 points and 7 rebounds during her junior season and earned an all-state honorable mention.

Tonia Williams of Warner Robbins, GA is a 6-1 guard who averaged 20 points and 14 rebounds, last season. She earned Class AAAAA first-team all-state honors from the Georgia Writers Association. In the Georgia State AAAAA playoffs, she scored 37 points against powerhouse team Stephenson High. Coach Walvius says that Williams can score from anywhere on the floor and has the ball handling skills of a point guard.

Last, but not least, is non-Georgian Becky Burke, a 5-11 guard from Abington Heights High School in Clarks Summit, PA. Burke actually committed to South Carolina a year ago. She was the only underclassman on the 2006-07 Pennsylvania AAAA all-state first team and the winner of two consecutive Scranton Times-Tribune Player of the Year awards. She is a three-time all-region selection and enters her senior year already ranked fifth on the Abington Heights High all-time scoring list with a total of 1,463 career points.

South Carolina will graduate most of the height inside, this year, so the addition of four players over 6 feet tall is a very welcome event.( This is assuming, of course, that these young women are actually over 6 feet tall, using your doctor’s height scale, not the marketing scale that automatically adds 2 inches to actual height.) Junior Demetress Adams will no doubt appreciate having some company in the paint. Chemistry, coachability and competitiveness seem to be trademarks of the current Peach State players–did you know that South Carolina actually produces more peaches that Georgia? You can look it up–and if next year’s signees have that in common, the next few seasons should be something to look forward to.

By the way, while Gamecocks fans are thrilled with the current crop of Georgia players, we’re also wondering: are there any SEC-caliber players in South Carolina’s high schools? Just curious...