Jordan Lee's surprise transfer to South Carolina women's basketball provides national intrigue

With the transfer portal closed to entrants, all eyes have turned to where the more than 1,500 names in the portal end up. For South Carolina, its group of FAMs can breathe easy knowing none of their returning players have left.

In fact, Gamecock faithful can even smile already knowing they’re gaining a top portal prospect in Texas’s Jordan Lee. Lee’s shocking transfer to an SEC rival has left national media buzzing with intrigue.

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ESPN’s Charlie Creme rates the lone South Carolina transfer portal commit — so far — as the nation’s No. 2 prospect out of the portal. The former Texas Longhorn ranks second behind Audi Crooks. Crooks, longtime star for Iowa State, recently joined Jacie Hoyt and Oklahoma State.

“Lee surprised many with her decision to leave the Longhorns. The move is even more intriguing now that she has decided to join the Longhorns’ chief SEC rival in South Carolina,” Creme wrote Monday. ” Lee was the best two-way player in the portal … Her work as a perimeter defender and her basketball IQ could make her a vital component for coach Dawn Staley’s pursuit of a fourth national championship.”

Lee averaged 13.2 points per game during the 2025-26 season with the Longhorns. Additionally, the rising junior guard averaged a career-high 1.5 steals alongside half a block per game. During her sophomore campaign with the Longhorns, Lee over doubled her steals total from 24 to 59. She also nearly tripled her blocks from seven to 20.

In her three matchups against the Gamecocks, Lee averaged 13.6 points, scoring in double figures in all three contests.

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The Athletic’s Chantel Jennings also wrote that Lee is a good fit for the Gamecocks.

“While they’re bringing in the No. 2 guard in the 2026 class, reloading from the portal was going to be key,” Jennings wrote. “Lee could be a starter for this group, or a dangerous sixth woman … This also gives her a chance to play in a system that has produced more WNBA guards in recent years than Texas.”

South Carolina put two guards into the WNBA this past week during the 2026 WNBA Draft. The Indiana Fever selected Raven Johnson in the first round, while Ta’Niya Latson went in the second round to the Los Angeles Sparks. Like Lee, Latson joined South Carolina out of the transfer portal.

Whether or not Lee will start for the Gamecocks remains unforeseen til it’s time for tipoff in Paris for the 2026-27 season. For now, the acquisition of the top portal guard keeps South Carolina a frontrunner for the foreseeable future.

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