South Carolina women's basketball: What does Justine Loubens bring to the Gamecocks?

South Carolina added another player to its 2026 recruiting class on Wednesday, signing French player Justine Loubens. What does her addition mean for the Gamecocks?

Who?

Loubens is an 18-year-old 6-1 perimeter player from France. South Carolina listed her as a guard when it announced her signing, but she was listed as a small forward back home. That means we’ll list her as a wing.

The lefty Loubens has good positional size and a promising jump shot. She can also handle the ball well and score at the rim. It’s a cliche to call lefties “crafty,” but Louben fits the cliche; she is a crafty scorer. 

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

She isn’t super quick or athletic, but she finds ways to get open shots. Loubens loves the corner three, and her shot is smooth, quick, and confident. 

Right now, though, Loubens needs to get more consistent with her three-point shot. She shot just 2-16 at the U18 EuroBasket tournament last summer, but two years ago she went 13-25 at the U17 World Cup. Loubens shot 22-33 from inside the arc at EuroBasket, so t

Defensively, Loubens looks solid. It’s hard to break down defense in junior tournaments. Loubens doesn’t make a lot of impact plays on defense, but also doesn’t get beaten that often.

Loubens visited Columbia in late February, the week of the Missouri game. That was a good week to be in town. South Carolina clinched a share of the SEC regular season championship with a win over Ole Miss, and then won it outright against Missouri. 

The French Connection

It probably isn’t a coincidence that Loubens played with Alicia Tournebize on French junior national teams and the two are friends. I’m not sure if it carries over, but they played off each other well at the U18 EuroBasket last summer.

If nothing else, having two international players (technically three, but Canadian Agot Makeer doesn’t really count) should help both players feel more comfortable. At SEC Tipoff last October, former Arkansas head coach Mike Neighbors said that international players are a growing part of recruiting, but there is a key to recruiting them.

“I learned if you’re going to have one, you’d better have two or three,” he said. “Because (with) one, they tend to feel lonely. You’d better have two or three.”

It also means South Carolina will be bringing two players home when the Gamecocks open next season in Paris against Maryland.

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

What is her likely role?

Whether you prefer the term “project” or “developmental player,” that is Loubens. She joins a team that is loaded across the board, but specifically at her position.

South Carolina already has experienced players Tessa Johnson, Agot Makeer, and Jordan Lee at the guard/wing positions, and signed one of the top recruits in the country, Jerzy Robinson. I often say that there’s always room for an athlete with size who can shoot, but South Carolina has seven or eight of those.

Loubens can probably expect a similar learning curve to what Tournebize experienced. The difference is that Tournebize is 6-7, so she got to play through her growing pains. Loubens will probably do it in practice.

La fin

After South Carolina signed Oliviyah Edwards, I said the Gamecocks were most likely finished adding players for next season. Edwards brought South Carolina to 13 players, plus Ashlyn Watkins, who is not officially back on the roster, but there is no reason to think she won’t be.

Well, now Staley really is finished. Loubens brings South Carolina to 14 players plus Watkins, and the roster limit is 15. There literally is no room for another player.

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