Point guard Maddy McDaniel withdraws from South Carolina, Dawn Staley says

COLUMBIA — South Carolina women’s basketball point guard Maddy McDaniel has withdrawn from the university, the program announced Aug. 7.

This news comes less than a month after she revealed she was stepping away from the team to better her mental health.

Coach Dawn Staley now has 14 players on South Carolina’s roster, but following recent court rulings over NCAA eligibility changes, it’s possible she adds one more player.

“We respected Maddy’s decision in July, and we continue to do that in this next step,” Staley said in the news release. “She has been a valued part of our program’s success, and she and her family will always be part of our Gamecock family. We wish her all the best as she chooses her future moves on and off the basketball court.”

On July 31, a ruling from U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney declared that members of the high school class of 2022 who exhausted their fourth season of college eligibility this spring can apply for a fifth season in 2026-27.

With McDaniel on the team, Staley was capped at 15 scholarship players but now doesn’t have that restriction.

McDaniel was the presumed starting point guard with Raven Johnson now in the WNBA, but now it’ll likely be a mix of guards taking over the role.

Sophomore Agot Makeer, senior Tessa Johnson and freshman Jerzy Robinson all played point in high school and could take McDaniel’s place.

McDaniel announced July 16 she was stepping away, saying it was the “strongest thing she can do” because of what the program means to her.

“Every athlete knows that mental strength is as valuable as their physical strength,” McDaniel wrote in a post online. “It just doesn’t announce itself in the same way when it needs attention … still, it’s time for me to acknowledge it. I’ve tried to just keep going but right now I’m not giving my coaches, my teammates and the Fams the best version of myself that they deserve. So I’ve decided to step away from the team to focus on my mental and emotional well-being, to get back to my best self on all levels.”

Staley included a statement with McDaniel’s announcement.

“If we see anyone in our program going through something, we give them the space and the grace to worth through it,” Staley said in the statement.

“When they embrace that it may take more than that, we embrace that, too. Maddy’s decision is a difficult one for a young person to make, and I’m glad she felt our program was a safe place for her to make it.”

In her sophomore season, McDaniel averaged 4.3 points, 2.7 assists and 19.7 minutes off the bench, increasing her 3-point attempts from 13 in 2024-25 to 33 and her percentage from 23.1% to 33.3%.

In 13 of the 17 games in which she played more than 20 minutes this season, she had one or no turnovers.

Nearly one year ago, forward Ashlyn Watkins announced she was taking time away from the program for mental health reasons. Watkins sat out all of last season but has returned, joining the team for this year’s summer workouts ahead of her senior season.

When Watkins announced she would be taking time off, she wrote that she was working to “come back stronger in 2026-27” whereas so far in McDaniel’s posts, she hasn’t addressed next season.

Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at LKesin@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X@Lulukesin and Bluesky‪@bylulukesin.bsky.social‬

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Point guard Maddy McDaniel withdraws from South Carolina, Dawn Staley says