By james art 
One of the biggest stories of the women’s college basketball season will be South Carolina. The Gamecocks are trying to win their second straight national championship and third in four years. Dawn Staley’s team went 38-0, but this season will be a new challenge. Camila Cardoso, the 2024 Final Four MVP, is in the WNBA. Junior forward Ashlyn Watkins is serving time after being charged with first-degree assault and battery and kidnapping.
To help us find out more, we recently caught up with Lulu Kessin of The Greenville News. The top-ranked Gamecocks play their season opener Monday night against Michigan in Las Vegas. The match will be broadcast on TNT.
Note: This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
Terrible announcement: Does South Carolina have as good a chance to repeat as any in recent memory?
Lulu Kessin: “Yes, for sure. I don’t think they’ll have any trouble making at least the Elite Eight. Of course, it depends on the bracket. Who knows if they’re bracketed with USC or UConn or something. But they’ll probably have the same success in the regular season that they’ve had the last three, four years.”
What makes this team different?
“This is the first time in about 10 years that they haven’t had a dominant player in the post. This is a huge change. It’s a completely different kind of offense for them, even though they return so much of their team. It went from A’ja Wilson to Aliyah Boston to Cardoso. Now they have post players with potential, but it’s going to be a slow process in terms of finding someone or pace of attack or style of attack. This will be a small forward or guard oriented offense in my opinion and based on what Dawn said.
Who will play at number 5?
“At the moment I would say Sania Fagin. She is a senior (and will likely) start in that traditional five position, with Chloe Kitts at small forward. But it’s different. Camila Cardoso, at 6-foot-7, could set anyone up and South Carolina’s ball movement was terrific. Even in a double team, they created opportunities to pass her the ball. (This season will be) just a little bit different. It’s not the traditional inside-out game with a dominant center.”
Who will be the better player: Raven Johnson or MiLaysia Fulwiley?
“I would say MiLaysia. It’s so hard. Raven is so good defensively, but MiLaysia is so versatile offensively with her passing. She can play with anyone. Her ability to change the flow and momentum of a game in an instant, I think is just rare and makes South Carolina so special. I would say she is the best on the team this year.”
Is there a newcomer to make an impact?
“Freshman Joyce Edwards is from South Carolina. She scored 39 points in the two exhibition games. Apparently, South Carolina didn’t know that when they lost Cardoso, they would also lose Watkins. Watkins filled in for Camila in the five games she missed last season. So it was kind of like, ‘Oh, it won’t be such a big deal when Cardozo is done.’ Now they’re without Watkins. That’s where I think Joyce Edwards is going to completely impact the game because, as Dawn Staley said, it’s limitless. She can play 1 through 5. I think she’s going to come off the bench and potentially be the team’s leading scorer, in my opinion, because she’s able to play wherever Dawn needs her to.”
What is Watkins’ condition?
“There is no court date yet. She is still suspended from the team. There is no telling when he will come back or if he will come back.”
What are your interactions with Staley?
“Very positive, very approachable, very kind, respectful, super down to earth and very easy to talk to. Every time I asked her a question, I felt that she was very concerned to listen and answer. I think a lot of people can say that (about her). She loves to talk about basketball, but she also loves to talk about who her players are off the court. She doesn’t shy away from talking to the media and she doesn’t shy away from potential questions.”
“I’m not going to lie the things I probably told myself weren’t the right things,”
Tessa Johnson with a candid response after I asked about her 3-point shooting to start the game. pic.twitter.com/EpIGcueJNy
— Lulu Kesin (@LuluKesin) October 29, 2024
Which opponent has the best chance to hand South Carolina its first loss?
“I think it could be at UCLA on Nov. 24 just because Lauren Betts is so tall. It’s an early test in terms of how (the Gamecocks) can defend if they’re undersized. That could be a loss. They play NC State (Nov. 10 in Charlotte). I don’t think NC State will be at the same level and South Carolina blew them out in the Final Four last year. I would say in terms of non-conference, definitely UCLA and Texas. They are playing a home and home series. I think Texas, whether it’s Jan. 12 at home or Feb. 9 in Austin, both games are going to be tough.”
Who is the face of women’s college basketball this season?
“Should it be a player? I think it has to be Paige Bueckers (UConn). She has proven it. What I think about a lot of these preseason positions is that South Carolina as a team should be No. 1 until proven otherwise. I think last year with Caitlin Clark and Iowa dominated so much of the conversation. Now, looking at the big picture, there has to be recognition for what South Carolina did and the historic season they had.
“I’m a reporter and I’m mainly concerned with their stats and that obviously skews my thinking a little bit. But the program has done so much that I think they should be at the forefront of every conversation. What makes them so special is that they have 13 players to look for. They don’t have that star who is the face of the program.”
Have you always wanted to be a reporter?
“I didn’t even know about journalism until high school. I always wanted to be an athlete. I have played sports all my life and have been inspired by different basketball players. And then after I realized I wasn’t good enough to play college basketball, I was like, “Okay, maybe I’ll be an athletic trainer.” Then I was like, “I’m bad at math.” I can never go to medical school. I fell into journalism by accident.”
Who has been a role model or mentor for you?
“I have always looked up to Miryn Fader and am incredibly grateful to be able to call her a friend. She is my idol and always will be because of the standard she sets for reporting and sports writing.
“She was my colleague for a year in The bell and she was in my ear every day, whether I wasn’t confident, whether I doubted myself. She edits my work. She helped me prepare for interviews. But she also talks to me about my goals and what I want to achieve and what I want to get out of things in this journalism industry and she tells me so much about what I should be interested in and what I shouldn’t be interested in. She’s just like this never-ending bottle of advice.