Signature Handshakes and Tough Defense: LeLe Grissett’s Leadership Fuels South Carolina’s Final Four Run

The Gamecocks’ fifth-year guard is the most veteran member on Dawn Staley’s squad.

MINNEAPOLIS — LeLe Grissett’s name will not be called when No. 1 South Carolina introduces its starting lineup Friday. But for a few moments, as those five players run out on the floor, she’ll be the star of the show.

The fifth-year guard is the most veteran member of the Gamecocks’ roster. (After going down with a leg injury late in the season last year, as a senior, she decided to use her extra season of pandemic eligibility to come back for one last run.) Teammates say Grissett has embraced the leadership role that comes with that status. And while this manifests in all sorts of ways, on and off the floor, there’s one that’s particularly noticeable. Grissett is the one at the center of all the pre-game hoopla for South Carolina—standing alone at the end of the player tunnel with signature handshakes and dances for each starter.

“She always has energy no matter what,” says Gamecocks star Aliyah Boston. “And it's good to have all that energy before we start a game.”

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The process of coming up with the individualized handshakes was organic. Before the first game of the season, as they were deciding what to do for the starting five, it seemed only natural the player to greet each starter should be a veteran like Grissett, and to her, it seemed important each starter get her own routine. “You’ve got to switch them up,” she says. “Every handshake can’t be the same.” That means Boston’s segment with Grissett is a series of hand movements followed by a body shuffle, while Victaria Saxton’s is a basic double high-five, and Destanni Henderson’s is a leaping, back-and-forth ordeal. Each handshake is a reflection of the player, and for Grissett, that’s something to take seriously.

“She really gets us going,” says starting guard Brea Beal. “When it comes to handshakes, she is probably the only one that's going to remember them. … She is the one that really gets us going and motivated for the game.”

That crack about no one else being able to keep all the different handshakes straight is one that comes up repeatedly: Coach Dawn Staley says she wouldn’t be able to remember them all, either. (Well, except maybe Saxton’s: “V is very simple,” she laughs. “That’s it. I could do that one.”) But that’s just Grissett, teammates say. She pays great attention to detail, with care given to each player on the roster, and the pre-game routines are a reflection of that. And, for the record, she swears she doesn’t have a favorite—she enjoys all of the handshakes equally.

“I take the leadership role pretty seriously, on the court and off it,” Grissett says. “I just feel like I can help the team move in the right direction.”

When she’s on the floor, that means tough defense and scrappy play. In her fifth year, though, Grissett knows her opportunities on a roster as stacked as this one can be limited. (She averages 13 minutes with three points and two rebounds.) So she has embraced everything else she feels called to do—mentoring younger teammates, providing motivation and, yes, getting everyone going with the handshakes. This is a job, too, she’s found, and it can be an important one.

“A lot of times, when you are a starter, you get the most attention,” Staley says. “But the people that are coming off the bench, and the people that are on the bench, it's their way of just feeling the game. … They feel a part of it during the introductions.”

Grissett feels part of it, and with the atmosphere she helps create, the starters feel ready to go. There’s no one they would rather have waiting for them at the end of the tunnel.

“She brings a lot of energy to the team when it comes to that,” Henderson says. “It just fits for her, and she does it well.”

Even as the most tenured member of the roster, Grissett is still waiting to experience a title. (The Gamecocks last won it all in 2017, when Grissett was a senior in high school in Durham, N.C.) She’s confident this can be the year—and if they make it to the championship on Sunday, she knows she’ll be standing there for every starter as her name is called, ready with a signature handshake, giving them the energy they need.

“It just means a lot that all of them look forward to me to bring the energy,” Grissett says. “And I’ve just got to take that role on, because I've been here the longest, I know what it takes and I know what kind of energy we need to win it all.”

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