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Home > SECWB News & More! > South Carolina Spotlight > Week Six: Basketball in South Carolina, But No Games
Week Six: Basketball in South Carolina, But No Games
by Marilyn McManus, SECWB.com
Posted: December 9th, 2007 @ 5:17pm
With no games to preview this week, let’s instead take a look at the state of basketball, in the state of South Carolina and at the University of South Carolina. Taking a look around the state, at the most obvious college basketball prospects in the state of South Carolina, this is not a banner year–but there are some excellent players. Among them:
Lower Richland’s Morgan Stroman (Class of 2009) Stroman is coached by her mother, Debbie Stroman, and has led the Diamond Hornets (is that not a cool name?) to a 51-5 record over the past two seasons and two consecutive Class 4A state championships. They are favored to win a third title this season. Stroman is a 6-1 wing player, who is currently ranked as the #27 player overallat hoopgurlz.com and #7 at her position. She has received interest from scores of schools and has made unofficial visits to both Clemson and South Carolina, with plans to visit Florida, Virginia Tech and Vanderbilt. She has not announced a favorite, at this time. Her goal is to make a decision in early to mid-2008 in order to concentrate her energy and effort on her senior year of basketball. (By 2009, perhaps the Gamecocks will again be looking for homegrown talent...)
Fannie Goodwin (Class of 2008) a 6-2 senior guard, teammate of Morgan Stroman, above. Coach Debbie Stroman describes her as an “awesome rebounder.” She averaged 8.8 per game last season, along with scoring 10 points and dishing 3 assists per game. At this point, she is uncommitted.
Rubylee Wright is a 5-2 senior guard who plays for Latta, the defending Class A champs. She has impressive stats: 21.6 points, 6.1 assists, 5.1 steals and 4.8 rebounds per game, last season. She has committed to sign with Georgetown.
Jamie Shaw is a 5-11 senior point guard at Spring Valley High School. She is the reigning SCISA player of the year and averaged 19 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals per game for Cardinal Newman High School before transferring to Spring Valley High School. She recently signed to play for East Carolina University in 2008.
Sierra Williams is a 6-2 senior forward, playing for Goose Creek High School. Williams led her Goose Creek team to second place in the Class 4A Lower State division, last year, while averaging 16.5 points, 11 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 6 steals per game. She has scored more than 1,500 points in her career and is approaching 1,000 rebounds. She is uncommitted.
Kiki Rutledge is a 5-6 senior point guard for J.L. Mann. Rutledge was the MVP of the Class 3A championship, last year. She averaged 14.2 points, 7 assists, 2 steals and 2 rebounds per game last season. She has signed with Charleston Southern University.
As for the current state of the Gamecocks, the record stands at 7-2, with the losses coming at the hands of Illinois and Penn State. The Penn State game, played at the Colonial Center, was a close contest that featured a frenzied comeback by the Gamecocks to tie the game late, before Penn State went on a run to lock up the win. Some of the weaknesses highlighted in that game could be attributed to the youth and lack of experience in the Gamecocks lineups.
The Illinois game, played at the Florida International University Thanksgiving Tournament, was another story altogether. The Gamecocks fell behind early, behind aggressive defense and good shooting by the Fighting Illini, then lost both guards Brionna Dickerson and Courtney Newton to injuries. Point guard Samone Kennedy played through a bout with the flu and played fairly well, but it was not the Gamecocks’ night. Rebounding was pretty much non-existent and only Demetress Adams (14) and Jordan Jones (13) scored with any consistency. Jones had a good enough tournament to be named to the All-Tournament Team.
At this time, there are 10 healthy players available. Starting guards Courtney Newton and Brionna Dickerson are both out, with Newton scheduled to be re-evaluated on the state of her knee injury. At this time, she is unsure whether surgery will be necessary. It is doubtful that Carolina can count on her availability anytime soon. Dickerson, however, has said that she hopes to be available for the game in Connecticut, if the stress fracture in her foot continues to heal. Freshman point guard Ashlie Billingslea is still out, but has been cleared to run and jump and is rehabbing her injured knee. She has been present, in uniform, for the past couple of home games. C.J. Pace is healthy, but her playing status is uncertain. She was not present at the Jackson State game, leaving the Gamecocks with only 9 viable players for that game.
Six players are averaging between 22 and 34 minutes per game, with Jordan Jones playing the most minutes at 33.7 per game. She has started every game and average 13.4 points per game, just a fraction behind leading scorer Demetress Adams at 13.6 per game. Adams has also started every game and leads the team in rebounding with 8.8 a game. She is second in minutes played with 28.8 per game and also leads the team in steals, with 25. Center Ilona Burgrova has started 8 of 9 games and averages 28 minutes played. She is averaging 7.9 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Brionna Dickerson and Lakesha Tolliver are the other 2 Gamecocks averaging double-figure scoring, Dickerson with 12.8 per game and Tolliver with 11.3. Tolliver also contributes heavily in rebounding, with 6.3 per game and has already blocked 24 shots, this season. She is also third on the team in steals, with 15, and is playing only 22.2 minutes per game.
Freshman point guard Samone Kennedy, who will likely see her playing time increase, is averaging 22 minutes per game and leads the team in assists (33) and is second in steals with 18. She also averages 5.2 points a game, but her greatest asset does not show up in a box score. She is lightning quick, an annoying defensive presence who is able to disrupt her opponent’s rhythm and can create separation with her amazing acceleration, on the run. Kennedy has a few too many turnovers, but some of those should decrease as her familiarity with her team increases. Senior Ebony Jones continues to contribute, as needed. She has started 2 games this season and averages 14 minutes and 5 points per game, with her 3-point shooting second only to Jordan Jones. Junior college transfer C.J. Pace has played in 8 games and averages 2.9 points and 1.
Of late, freshman wing Jasmine Payne has been seeing a good amount of playing time. She is now averaging 13 minutes a game and plays with a high level of energy. She is averaging 4.7 points and 2.6 rebounds per game and has 8 steals on the season. She gets to the foul line, too, where she is shooting 90%. Freshman Jewel May has also seen her time increase somewhat. Despite having only played a total of 35 minutes, this season, she has 12 points and 11 rebounds. She appears to have something of an instinct for rebounding, an attribute that will be valuable for the Gamecocks in future games.
Although the team clearly misses the injured players, they have made the necessary adjustments to deal with the losses, and realized the added bonus of finding playing time for the players on the end of the bench. This Gamecock team, with so many young and inexperienced players, is clearly a work in progress, but they have made quite a lot of progress already and are looking forward to the rest of the season.
Currently, the Gamecocks are concentrating on final exams, only to resume play on December 17 in Storrs, Connecticut against the #2 ranked Huskies.
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