South Carolina basketball Unveils two signees ahead of…

This offseason, Dawn Staley, the basketball coach at South Carolina, has a class of top-3 recruits nationwide heading to Columbia. Adhel Tac, a five-star post player, is one of the team’s three commitments and has already enrolled at the University of South Carolina.

As the other two completed their high school careers, they amassed an enormous amount of honours and distinctions. Five-star guard Maddy McDaniels, a McDonald’s All-American who also plays guard for Joyce Edwards, and five-star forward Joyce Edwards, who has won multiple National Player of the Year awards, will share another honour this week as they were invited to participate in Team USA’s U-18 National Team trials in advance of the 2024 U-18 FIBA AmeriCup.

The 26-player group (12 from the 2024 and 14 from the 2025 high school classes) will be reduced to 12 before the U-18 National Team training camp starts in June. The trials will start on May 15. From June 17–23, Bucaramanga, Colombia, will host the U–18 AmeriCup.

The team’s head coach will be Tori Moren of the Indiana Hoosiers, with assistant coaches being Niele Ivey of Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Jose Fernandez of the South Florida Bulls. Additional helpers for the trials will be coaches Charmin Smith of the Cal Golden Bears and Shea Ralph of the Vanderbilt Commodores.

Edwards’ high school career culminated in a state victory in March, and since then, she has participated in almost every all-star game and showcase possible. At the Jordan Brand Classic, the Nike Hoop Summit, and the McDonald’s All-American Game, she was named MVP. A knee ailment prevented McDaniel, a McDonald’s All-American as well, from playing. It’s unknown how her knee would impact her summertime eligibility for Team USA.

This summer’s U-18 AmeriCup will include eight teams; Team USA will be in a group with Team Brazil, Team Mexico, and Team Puerto Rico. In the U-18 AmeriCup, Team USA has won eleven gold medals in a row. The top four teams from this year’s competition will automatically advance to the U-19 World Cup the following year.