South Carolina women's basketball gets Class of 2024 five-star guard Madisen McDaniel
COLUMBIA — South Carolina women's basketball landed its first commitment of the Class of 2024 with five-star point guard Madisen McDaniel.
The 5-foot-7 McDaniel, who made the announcement Saturday on ESPNU, is the No. 11 prospect in the country and the No. 3 point guard in ESPN's HoopGurlz rankings. She is the Gamecocks' highest-rated commitment since signing No. 2 prospect Raven Johnson — also the No. 1 point guard — in the Class of 2021.
McDaniel averaged 18.6 points, 5.4 assists, 5.2 steals and 4.3 rebounds per game in her junior season at Bishop McNamara in Forestville, Maryland. Her commitment comes weeks after sophomore point guard Talaysia Cooper entered the transfer portal and signed with Tennessee. Cooper was the No. 18 prospect in the Class of 2022 and averaged eight minutes a game in 2022-23.
CLASS OF 2023: Scouting Milaysia Fulwiley and South Carolina basketball's other freshmen for Dawn Staley
South Carolina has three point guards on its 2023-24 roster, headlined by Johnson as the presumed starter. The Gamecocks also added junior Oregon transfer Te-Hina Paopao and signed Columbia native Milaysia Fulwiley, the No. 3 point guard in the Class of 2023.
The 2023 recruiting class includes No. 25 prospect Tessa Johnson, a 5-10 guard, and No. 40 prospect Sahnya Jah, a 6-1 forward. Chloe Kitts, who enrolled a semester early and appeared in 18 games last season, was the No. 17 prospect.
In 2022-23, the Gamecocks completed the first undefeated regular season in program history and swept the SEC regular-season and tournament championships. They reached their third consecutive Final Four before suffering their lone loss of the season to 2-seed Iowa and Caitlin Clark in the semifinals. South Carolina graduated seven seniors, including its entire starting lineup.
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina, Dawn Staley get commitment from 5-star Madisen McDaniel
