South Carolina Fans Lament Gamecocks NCAA All-America Award Snub
On March 19, AP announced its NCAA women's basketball All-America first, second, and third teams.
When it comes to the players that were selected, all were certainly deserving. First-team honorees include USC's star JuJu Watkins, UConn's Paige Bueckers, Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo, UCLA's Lauren Betts, and Texas' Madison Booker.
Second-team honorees were UConn's Sarah Strong, LSU's Aneesah Morrow, Florida State's Ta'Niya Latson, Notre Dame's Olivia Miles, and Kentucky's Georgia Amoore while the third-team consisted of TCU's Hailey Van Lith, Iowa State's Audi Crooks, USC's Kiki Iriafen, Vanderbilt's Mikaylah Blakes, and LSU's Flau'jae Johnson.
While these players all deserved recognition, many would argue that several members of the defending national champion South Carolina Gamecocks also should have been named to an All-America team.
Four Gamecocks players — Chloe Kitts, MiLaysia Fulwiley, Joyce Edwards, and Te-Hina Paopao — earned All-America honorable mention. However, many fans aren't finding this sufficient, which is being conveyed on social media.
The Bleacher Report women's sports Instagram account sparked discussion by posting one Gamecocks fan's X post that wrote, "So South Carolina has no All Americans but everyone is always in uproar about the talent they have and will be crashing out if they win back to back lol."
Greenville News reporter Lulu Kesin added on X, "There's incredible talent this year and I know it's hard when South Carolina doesn't have one star who drops 20 ppg but not picking two of the best players from the co regular-SEC season champs, SEC tourney champs and No. 2 team in the country is crazy".
There's incredible talent this year and I know it's hard when South Carolina doesn't have one star who drops 20 ppg but not picking two of the best players from the co regular-SEC season champs, SEC tourney champs and No. 2 team in the country is crazy https://t.co/PemBk897ui
— Lulu Kesin (@LuluKesin) March 19, 2025
It's worth noting that many other fans are conveying that this is a testament to South Carolina because their team is predicated on several stats distributing the wealth evenly as opposed to relying on one or two superstars like most other teams.
While South Carolina's depth will undoubtedly be an asset during the 2025 NCAA Tournament, it hurt them in this All-America award voting.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.