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University plans for a statue to honor A’ja Wilson’s contributions to women’s basketball. PG 1
VOL. 111, NO. 13 l SINCE 1908
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2018
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
Arts
Two USC chroreographers take readers behind the scenes of their upcoming fall dance concert. PG 5
Sports
South Carolina basketball is underway and takes on new styles to fill gaps in their line-ups. PG 7
SOUTH CAROLINA SETS NEW STYLE Gamecocks look to fill the void on offense after losing A’ja Wilson
SHELBY BECKLER @sbeckler13 A fter losing standout A’ja Wilson to the W NBA, South Carolina will look to establish a new approach to developing a dominating offense. Head coach Dawn Staley is implementing a new playing style for the Gamecocks, one
that she said gives South Carolina a chance to utilize the experience and depth that they still have. “I think that we are just going to play a lot more free because we have to play that way,” Staley said. “We can’t have a team in which we have a 100-play play-book. I think this team is more driven by concept and understanding where they are on the court and where they can be impactful.”
Experience is something that Staley said she especially values this year as the team adapts to a new line-up. “Experience. They will go with the most experienced players for us,” Staley said. “Experience meaning that have played minutes, a lot of minutes for us in the past and then we’ll work everybody else in.” SEE WOMENS PAGE 7
VALENCIA ABRAHAM//THE GAMECOCK
Players balance life on court, in classroom Emily Greer @TDG_dailynews
FILE PHOTO: YANGXING DING//THE GAMECOCK A’ja Wilson’s contributions to women’s basketball will be recognized with a statue on campus outside Colonial Life Arena.
Planning for A’ja Wilson statue at Colonial Life Arena continues Meghan Crum @megcrum24
USC announced the decision to build a statue of
former Gamecock women’s basketball All-American A’ja Wilson at her graduation in May to be displayed outside of Colonial Life A rena and has since been work ing on
t he logist ics of t he stat ue, such as funding, design and placement. SEE WILSON PAGE 2
While time management is a skill many college students learn during their four years, the student-athletes on the South Carolina women’s basketball team believe it to be crucial for success both on the court and in the classroom. The NCAA requires student-athletes to have at least a 2.0 GPA, or a C average, to compete in their sport, but USC’s average GPA for athletes is 3.0. To maintain this, the University of South Carolina has the Dodie Anderson Academic Enrichment Center to assist student athletes in learning how to manage their time between their studies and their sport. X av ier Sh a n non , assistant director of academics for women’s basketball and track and field, emphasized that the athletes do have to put in the work in order to learn how to manage their time successfully. SEE GPA PAGE 3
SARA YANG//THE GAMECOCK Student athletes work to balance athletics and academics off the court.