5-star prospect Maddy McDaniel commits to South Carolina women’s basketball
Class of 2024 standout Maddy McDaniel announced her commitment to South Carolina on Saturday night.
McDaniel was supposed to play in the Next Elite 24 Game, which was being played outside in Atlanta, but it was canceled because of weather.
“For the next four years, I will be continuing at South Carolina,” McDaniel said in an ESPNU broadcast as she held up a black South Carolina T-shirt.
The 5-foot-8, five-star point guard from Bishop McNamara High School in Maryland is the No. 11 overall recruit and No. 3 point guard in the country, according to ESPN. She is the first player in the class of 2024 to commit to the Gamecocks.
McDaniel was impressed with the Gamecocks’ team chemistry and how coach Dawn Staley interacted with her guards, The Athletic reported in July.
“That was really important to me, her being a point guard’s coach,” she told The Athletic. “She’s tough on them, but she loves them hard, too.”
McDaniel was named Max Preps Maryland Player of the Year after averaging 18.6 points, 5.4 assists, 5.2 steals and 4.3 rebounds per game last season. She also received multiple all-conference honors.
She has competed on the Nike EYBL circuit against elite competition for over three years. This year she was invited to USA Basketball minicamp, the 2023 UA Next Elite 24 and Curry Camp (Stephen Curry’s hands-on training camp) for the second year in a row.
McDaniel suffered an ACL tear in 2020, which kept her out of competition for 10 months, according to her website. She had surgery in March 2021 and returned to the court on Dec. 19, 2021.
At South Carolina, McDaniel will join fellow top-15 prospects at guard in MiLaysia Fulwiley (No. 13 in 2023), Bree Hall (No. 14 in 2021) and Raven Johnson (No. 2 in 2021).
This story was originally published August 12, 2023 at 10:23 PM with the headline "5-star prospect Maddy McDaniel commits to South Carolina women’s basketball."
