COLOMBIA – Dawn Staley always uses a particular vernacular when announcing a recruit. She tweeted that a bird flew to the nest.
In the past two weeks, she has tweeted about four different birdies, but as she cannot publicly argue about a recruit until they sign a letter of intent, she cannot say their names. The players themselves have to do this.
The first yes. Aubryanna “Bree” Hall, a 5-11 guard in Dayton, Ohio, ranked 26th in the nation, announced she would come to the USC on Monday.
Hall recently cut his final schools to Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Mississippi, NC, Texas and Gamecocks. From the same hometown of the rising USC second-year guard, Zia Cooke, and having taken a first-hand look at USC when the Gamecocks played in Dayton in November, Hall fills out the first of six open scholarships for the next class.
Staley never used all of his 15 scholarships, preferring to keep the list at 11 or 12. Gamecocks have only one senior on the 2020-21 list at the moment, guard LeLe Grissett, so building for the future is a must.
Hall’s inauguration is the first addition to what is expected to be another monstrous recruiting class. She was one of 11 uncompromised players among the 26 best in the class.
Gamecocks are involved with six of the remaining 10, including general number one recruit Azzi Fudd.
The ESPNW Hall rating credits its medium range jumper and versatility. The Gamecocks moved 6-2 Grissett to guard this year and placed three guards around center Aliyah Boston and striker Mikiah Herbert Harrigan, so Hall could easily fit in with the rotation of the USC.
With three participants returning, including Boston, the unanimous national freshman of the year, the Gamecocks are expected to start the next season as No. 1. USC has held the top spot since January 13.
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