Tyasha Harris is the best USC WBB player to wear No. 52. What about 41-55?
This month The State has published its “Best to Wear It” series where we pick the best players across all eras to wear specific jersey numbers for the South Carolina women’s basketball team.
Previous stories highlighted the best players to wear jersey numbers 00 through 10 (Part 1), 11 through 20 (Part 2), 21 through 30 (Part 3) and 31 through 40 (Part 4).
In this final installment, we selected the best players to wear No. 41 to No. 55.
A reminder: Not every number will be included in this series. No player has ever worn a jersey number higher than 55 in South Carolina women’s basketball’s history, and some other jersey numbers have never been worn at all as well. In this story, the Nos. 43, 46, 47, 48, 49 and 54 jerseys are omitted because no player has worn them, per the program’s record book.
Let’s get into the picks one last time:
No. 41
The best to wear it: Alaina Coates (2013-17)
We start off the final installation of the Best to Wear It series with an easy pick. Of the five players in program history to wear No. 41 for South Carolina, Alaina Coates is far and away the best.
Coates is one of the best players of the Dawn Staley era at South Carolina. Coates finished her career with 1,603 career points (No. 13 all-time) and 1,230 rebounds (No. 3 all-time).
The Irmo native made an impact right away with the Gamecocks. In her freshman year she averaged 12.3 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. Those numbers led her to being named the SEC Freshman of the Year by the league’s coaches, SEC Newcomer of the Year by the AP and was the SEC Co-6th Player of the year. She also earned an All-SEC Second Team and Freshman All-American selection that year.
Coates’ success didn’t stop there. By the end of her career she was a four-time All-SEC honoree, two-time SEC All-Defense selection, three-time NCAA Tournament All-Region selection and was named an All-American three times.
Coates averaged a double-double in the last two years of her career, including in the 2015-16 season when she led the SEC with 10.3 rebounds per game.
Coates averaged 12.1 points and 9.2 rebounds per game in her career and finished her time as a Gamecock by helping lead the program to its first national title in 2017.
Honorable mentions: Lakesha Tolliver (2004-08)
No. 42
The best to wear it: Nikki Miars (1996-99)
Only three people have worn the No. 42 for South Carolina women’s basketball. We gave the nod to Nikkia Miars here, who beat out Jean Walling (who was an honorable mention for No. 32 as well) and Cynthia Jacobs.
Miars started in all of the 108 games she played for the Gamecocks. She finished her career with 1,263 points, 385 assists, 369 rebounds and 210 steals.
The Ohio native earned All-SEC Second Team in 1997 after averaging 15 points, 4.2 rebounds, two steals and 2.3 assists per game. Where her points per game numbers fell in the final two years of her career, her assists numbers rose. Miars went from averaging 1.3 assists in the 96-97 season to five per game the next and 4.3 per game in her senior season.
Miars’ career average of 3.6 assists per game is good for No. 8 in program history. She is also statistically one of the top free-throw shooters in program history.
Honorable mentions: Jean Walling (1977-80), Cynthia Jacobs (1978-80)
No. 44
The best to wear it: Mindy Ballou (1982-86)
This is a two-woman race between Mindy Ballou and Annie Lester. Both stuffed the stat sheet during their time with the Gamecocks.
Ballou scored 1,199 points and recorded 595 assists in her career. Meanwhile, Lester scored 1,488 points and tallied 785 rebounds.
Both brought in plenty of individual accolades, too. Ballou was a three-time All-American and earned an All-Metro nod in 1986. Lester was an All-SEC Freshman selection in 1997 and finished her career with two more All-SEC nods.
Both have their names peppered throughout the program’s record book as well. Ballou’s 7.3 assists per game in the ‘83-84 season is the most in program history and her 595 assists are No. 4 in all-time program history. Ballou’s career average of 5.2 assists per game is still No. 2 in the program record book. On the other hand Lester is No. 16 in all-time scoring, No. 7 in offensive rebounds and No. 8 in steals.
Since Ballou was a multi-time All-American and her numbers have managed to hang around in the top 10 of several assists records, we ultimately gave her the nod.
Honorable mention: Annie Lester (1996-2000), Jenny Randall (1991-95), Medina Dixon (1981-82)
No. 45
The best to wear it: Jocelyn Penn (1998-2003)
Jocelyn Penn was a key piece of the South Carolina teams in the early 2000s that found success on the national stage. She’s also arguably one of the best all-around players in program history.
Penn finished her career top 10 in the program record book in several categories including 1,939 total points (currently No. 6), 803 total rebounds and 359 total steals (currently No. 1).
Penn earned an All-SEC selection in 2002 when she averaged 16.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game and took the Gamecocks to the Elite Eight.
The Conyers, Georgia native’s best season came in her senior year during the 2002-2003 season. Penn averaged 23.9 points per game and led the SEC with 3.5 steals per game and an effective field goal percentage of 64.4%. Penn was named an All-American by the Associated Press and the US Basketball Writers Association for her efforts.
Penn’s career accomplishments landed her in the University of South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame in 2024.
No. 50
The best to wear it: Renee Najarian (1983-85)
Najarian is the only player in program history to wear the No. 50 jersey. As such, she’s the best to ever wear it.
Najarian spent two seasons with the Gamecocks in the early ‘80s and averaged 10 points per game in that time. She was a Freshman All-American after scoring 8.6 points per game in the 1983-84 season. In 1985, her sophomore year, Najarian earned an All-American nod after averaging 11.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.
While Najarian was good at South Carolina her best years were with another team. The Wakefield, Massachusetts native finished her career with two seasons at UConn where she averaged 17.1 points and 10.9 points per game and was a two-time All-Big East honoree.
No. 51
The best to wear it: Shanta Jeffcoat (1996-2000)
Shanta Jeffcoat is the only player in program history to wear the No. 51 jersey for the Gamecocks.
Jeffcoat played 103 games for the Gamecocks. She made 18 starts, all of which came in her freshman year.
The Swansea native was a three-time SEC Academic Honor Roll selection and averaged 3.2 points per game in her career.
No. 52
The best to wear it: Tyasha Harris (2016-20)
Tyasha Harris is arguably the best point guard in the program’s history and is generally regarded as the best of the Staley era at USC.
Harris finished her career with 1,340 total points, a program-best 702 assists and 224 steals (No. 7 in the program record book).
The Indiana native earned an All-SEC Freshman selection in 2017 and helped the Gamecocks win their first national title in program history.
Harris has earned All-SEC honors three times in her career. She was an All-American honorable mention in 2018 and 2019. Harris earned an All-American Third Team selection in 2020 from several outlets after averaging 12 points and an SEC-best 5.7 assists per game.
Honorable mentions: Evelyn Johnson (1979-83), Lisa Diaz (1986-90)
No. 53
The best to wear it: Shelia Foster (1978-82)
Shelia Foster is the only player to wear No. 53 in the program’s history, but she’s also one of the best to ever wear a South Carolina women’s basketball uniform in general.
Foster’s success as a Gamecock might be forgotten by some, simply because of the amount of success the program has had as a whole in the last decade. The Spartanburg native played all but one of her seasons at South Carolina before the NCAA started governing women’s sports.
Foster rewrote the program record book and held on to most of those records into the 21st century. Her 2,226 total points were the most in program history until 2018 and her 1,426 rebounds were the most until 2023.
South Carolina won a WNIT championship, made the AIAW Final Four and earned its first-ever NCAA Tournament berth thanks to Foster.
Foster was the program’s first multi-year All-American and the first woman in Gamecock athletics to have their jersey retired, in 1982. The State selected Foster as one of the four players on the Mount Rushmore of South Carolina women’s basketball last summer.
No. 55
The best to wear it: Larissa Kulcsar (2003-07)
Just four players have worn No. 55 for the South Carolina women’s basketball team, and not one of them averaged more than four points per game.
Of those players, Larissa Kulcsar and Linda Hoglund are the only ones who played four seasons with the Gamecocks, per USC’s record book. We used that parameter to whittle the competition down to Kulcsar and Hoglund.
In the end, Kulcsar had the better stats. The Romanian averaged 3.3 points per game in 93 games.
This story was originally published June 29, 2026 at 8:00 AM with the headline "Tyasha Harris is the best USC WBB player to wear No. 52. What about 41-55?."
