South Carolina women’s basketball makes first cut for No. 5 recruit

The South Carolina women’s basketball program got some good news recently from a Class of 2025 recruit.

On Nov. 5, two days before the Gamecocks signed the nation’s No. 6 recruiting class, five-star recruit ZaKiyah Johnson of Sacred Heart (Ky.) Academy included USC as one of her top 12 schools.

Johnson, a junior guard from the Louisville area, is the No. 5 overall recruit in the country for her class, according to the espnW rankings.

The other schools in Johnson’s top 12 list, released last week on the platform X (formerly Twitter) were LSU, Notre Dame, Georgia, Southern Cal, UConn, Louisville, Arizona, Ohio State, Tennessee, UCLA and Mississippi State.

Johnson, a two-time Gatorade Kentucky Girls Basketball Player of the Year, wrote on social media she appreciated “every school that showed interest in me throughout this process.”

Although it’s early in Johnson’s process, and she’s said she won’t choose a college until the summer before her senior year at earliest, she’s already expressed interest in South Carolina past the school’s inclusion on her top 12 list.

In a March 2023 story in the (Louisville) Courier Journal, Johnson said she was a bit starstruck talking with South Carolina coach Dawn Staley on the phone after the Gamecocks offered Johnson a scholarship entering her sophomore year.

“Being able to talk to her, I was shocked at first,” Johnson told the Courier Journal. “I was like, ‘I’m really on the phone with one of the best coaches that’s ever done it.’ That did show me how good I’ve become, but I have a lot more work to do.”

Johnson, a 6-foot guard, has won back-to-back Gatorade awards as the state of Kentucky’s top women’s basketball player and averaged 22.4 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.1 blocks per game for Sacred Heart Academy.

She shot 52% from the field, 40% on 3-pointers and 74% on free throws as a sophomore as Sacred Heart won a third straight state championship (Johnson’s second in a row) and Johnson was once again named championship game MVP.

The former MaxPreps National Freshman of the Year also has experience with USA Basketball through its junior national teams and junior 3x3 teams. ESPN had Johnson as an honorable mention on its list of the top 10 current women’s basketball recruits regardless of class.

South Carolina, which jumped from No. 6 to No. 1 in Monday’s AP Top 25 after back-to-back ranked wins to start the season, is one of many heavy hitters in contention to land Johnson in the next recruiting cycle.

Among Johnson’s top 12 schools, eight others are also ranked in this week’s AP Top 25 alongside USC: No. 3 UCLA, No. 7 LSU, No. 8 UConn, No. 10 Southern Cal, No. 13 Ohio State, No. 15 Tennessee, No. 16 Notre Dame, No. 19 Louisville.

Staley and USC are also a top 10 school for five-star 2025 point guard Aaliyah Chavez, the No. 1 recruit in the class. South Carolina was a top 11 school for No. 3 overall recruit Sienna Betts, who verbally committed to UCLA (where her sister, Lauren, plays) on Saturday.

In a September interview with local news channel WLKY before she released her top 12 schools list, Johnson indicated she’d make a few more cuts in her recruitment over the coming months before deciding on her future college next year.

“I’m definitely going to do my top 12 soon, kind of wait on the eight, then do my four and then I was thinking about probably the summer before my senior year is when I’ll commit,” she said.

South Carolina WBB recruiting update

The Gamecocks formally signed their two 2024 commitments to national letters of intent during this year’s early signing period that ends Wednesday.

Five-star point guard Madisen McDaniel of Maryland (No. 12 nationally) and four-star center Adhel Tac of Texas (No. 26) both signed their NLIs to join South Carolina in a class that ESPN ranked as No. 6 nationally.

USC missed out on a third commitment when No. 6 overall recruit Kennedy Smith picked Southern Cal (an in-state school for the California wing) over South Carolina and other finalists Saturday.

The Gamecocks remain in hot pursuit of local five-star recruit Joyce Edwards, who plays at Camden High School and attended the team’s Sunday home game against Maryland, where fans at Colonial Life Arena chanted “We want Joyce! We want Joyce!”

Edwards, the No. 2 recruit in the country and a forward at nearby Camden High School, announced Monday night she’d be deciding between three finalists (South Carolina, Clemson and LSU) on Wednesday at 5:45 p.m. That’s the last day of the week-long early signing period (Nov. 15).