South Carolina women's basketball: Madina Okot has been who the Gamecocks needed, but she strives for more

About 45 minutes after South Carolina’s 105-43 win at Florida Gulf Coast, Madina Okot stood beside the team bus. A few minutes earlier, she was already on the bus, having managed to slip on despite agreeing to an interview request. 

But her half-hearted attempt at evasion had been foiled, so Okot was back outside the bus. She had just scored a career-high 27 points, and she understood the responsibilities and talked about the first half of her season.

On a scale of one to 10, what is her comfort level?

“I’ll give it a seven,” Okot said, after thinking for a moment.

NEW! Message board for South Carolina Women’s Basketball! 🏀

***

Reticent post players are practically a Gamecock tradition. Alaina Coates was generally quiet, and, before she became comfortable in the spotlight, it took about a year and a half for Aliyah Boston to open up.

Kamilla Cardoso may have set the bar the highest. She managed to avoid speaking to the media for nearly two full seasons. And if Cardoso found a reporter’s questions annoying, she wasn’t above playing the language card and pretending she didn’t understand the question.

Coates, Boston, and Cardoso established another Gamecock tradition that Okot would like to continue. They were All-SEC players who won national championships and became top-three WNBA Draft picks.

In July, when Okot first met with the media, she singled out that tradition as her reason for coming to South Carolina.

Coates and Boston were impact players from the start of their Gamecock careers. But Cardoso and Okot, both transfers, needed a little more time to settle in.

Cardoso played one season at Syracuse, where she was the ACC Freshman of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, averaging 13.6 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks. But in her first season at South Carolina, her averages dropped to just 5.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks before bouncing back as a junior and senior.

Fortunately for Okot, she only needed a couple of weeks, not a full season, to get up to speed. Unless she gets a waiver from the NCAA, this is Okot’s last season of eligibility.

***

Okot had 12 points, but only four rebounds in her Gamecock debut against Grand Canyon. It was a good game, but not the dominant inside presence South Carolina was looking for. Double-doubles against Bowling Green and Clemson followed, but they were quiet double-doubles.

Then came Okot’s 15-rebound game against Southern Cal. Even though she only had six points, Okot wrecked Southern Cal’s offensive sets and pulled down the most rebounds by a Gamecock since Cardoso left. That was the player South Carolina needed.

In the next five games, Okot tied her career-high of 23 points three times, all double-doubles. That included six straight points that sparked a come-from-behind win at Louisville. 

“We keep asking her and telling her and pushing her and encouraging her to be dominant, and we have that standard for her, and she’s just meeting that standard,” Tessa Johnson said after the game. “Soon we’re gonna have to exceed the standard.”

The double-double streak ended when Okot only played 11 minutes against NC Central due to illness. But then exceeded the standard when she scored a career-high 27 points at FGCU, including her first career three-pointer.

“I’ve been working with that,” Okot said. “I kept missing, but I never stopped working. Practice and practice and you’ll get it.”

🏀 GamecocksW newsletter: WBB coverage delivered straight to your inbox!

***

Okot’s first two SEC games with South Carolina have been inconsistent. She is shooting just 10-24 (41.7%) and missed out on a double-double against Alabama’s four-guard lineup. But Okot also grabbed 17 rebounds against Florida, adding five steals and three blocks.

This is when you have to remind yourself that Okot has only been playing basketball since 2020. Every time she dribbles instead of going straight up for a shot, or tries to finesse a layup around a defender instead of just going over her, remember she first picked up a basketball at age 17.

South Carolina’s post player tradition also includes Dawn Staley constantly pushing those players to dominate (except for Coates. I think she walked in dominating.). Okot is in good company.

“Yeah, we keep motivating each other,” Okot said. “I feel like that’s how we’re gonna (improve) because honestly we need everybody to be on for us to win games easily.”

South Carolina asks a lot from Okot. More opponents play four-guard lineups than have a traditional post. That means defensively, Okot gets switched onto guards. 

Offensively, South Carolina’s desire to play fast sometimes means the Gamecocks have already scored before Okot even gets across half court. Okot understands the situation and plays her part.

“That’s what we’ve been working on,” she said. “I feel like playing as a team makes everything so easy. That’s why we’ve been doing what you see us doing out there.”

Whenever the game slows down, Staley makes sure the ball goes to Okot. Once she gets going, the game gets simple.

“I feel like I started slower and I needed to pick it up,” Okot said. “When I picked it up, everything just kept coming to me.”

Staley also tries to get Okot more rest in the first half so that she can play most of the second half. After the FGCU game, Staley explained that sometimes they have to be intentional about making sure Okot is involved.

“She didn’t play much in the first half,” Staley said. “So let’s play her longer. Let’s see if we can just get some rhythm going with her, and I thought she did a great job making layups. You know, when you make layups, you can shoot a three off the backboard that it goes in, because shots connect like that.”

Remember the seven that Okot gave herself? It’s because she wants more. If she had gone any higher, she might get complacent, and she doesn’t want anyone to get complacent. When Joyce Edwards scored a career-high 29, Okot said 30 is better.

“I’m so proud of my gal. That’s my gal,” Okot said. “I kept telling her before every game, (…) Last game she had a career high of 29, and I kept telling her, you need to get to 30. Now I have to keep motivating her to get to 35.”

Okot is now averaging 15.2 points, 11.5 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, 1.5 steals, and 1.2 steals while shooting 61.1% from the floor. Her 11 double-doubles rank second in the nation, and she ranks seventh in rebounding average and 11th in field goal percentage. 

For comparison, Boston averaged 16.8 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks and shot 54.2% when she was the consensus national player of the year as a junior.

So it was a little surprising that Okot only gave herself a seven out of ten. That leaves more room for improvement, I said, laughing.

“Yes,” Okot said. She was smiling, but not laughing. She meant it.

NEW! Message board for South Carolina Women’s Basketball!