South Carolina Fans Express Disappointment Over Gamecocks’ NCAA All-America Snub

In a live update on March 19, the Associated Press unveiled its NCAA women’s basketball All-America first, second, and third teams. The players selected all had stellar seasons, and their recognition is well-deserved. The first-team honors went to JuJu Watkins from USC, Paige Bueckers from UConn, Hannah Hidalgo from Notre Dame, Lauren Betts from UCLA, and Madison Booker from Texas.

On the second team, we saw Sarah Strong from UConn, Aneesah Morrow from LSU, Ta’Niya Latson from Florida State, Olivia Miles from Notre Dame, and Georgia Amoore from Kentucky. The third-team honorees were Hailey Van Lith from TCU, Audi Crooks from Iowa State, Kiki Iriafen from USC, Mikaylah Blakes from Vanderbilt, and Flau’jae Johnson from LSU.

However, despite the deserved recognition, many believe the defending national champion South Carolina Gamecocks were underrepresented. While four players — Chloe Kitts, MiLaysia Fulwiley, Joyce Edwards, and Te-Hina Paopao — received All-America honorable mentions, many fans argue this isn’t enough and are voicing their opinions on social media.

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The conversation gained traction after the Bleacher Report Women’s Sports Instagram account shared a post from a Gamecocks fan on X (formerly Twitter), which read, “So South Carolina has no All Americans but everyone is always in uproar about the talent they have and will be crashing out if they win back to back lol.”

There's incredible talent this year and I know it's hard when South Carolina doesn't have one star who drops 20 ppg but not picking two of the best players from the co regular-SEC season champs, SEC tourney champs and No. 2 team in the country is crazy https://t.co/PemBk897ui

— Lulu Kesin (@LuluKesin) March 19, 2025

Yet, others argue that South Carolina’s success is a testament to its team-oriented approach, where the wealth of talent is distributed across the roster, rather than relying on one or two superstar players, which is typical of other teams.

While South Carolina’s depth is undoubtedly an asset heading into the 2025 NCAA Tournament, it seems to have worked against them in the All-America voting.