Oliviyah Edwards improves Dawn Staley's recruit rankings, but South Carolina not No. 1
Signing Oliviyah Edwards improved where South Carolina is in the 2026 class rankings but coach Dawn Staley's group still isn't No. 1 overall.
COLUMBIA — For the third time in program history, South Carolina women's basketball has the No. 2 ranked recruiting class. ESPN released its final rankings for 2026 on May 1, and originally coach Dawn Staley's group was fourth overall but the addition of Oliviyah Edwards pushed the Gamecocks up two spots.
Edwards is a 6-foot-3 five-star forward ranked third in her class. She decommitted from Tennessee on April 7, visited South Carolina on April 14 and committed to the Gamecocks nine days later. Southern Cal still holds the No.
1 overall spot, driven by Saniyah Hall who is the No. 1 overall recruit in the class of 2026, followed by No. 5 Sara Okeke.
South Carolina No. 2 in ESPN's final 2026 recruiting class rankings Before this year, Staley has had four top-two classes, her first No. 1 class in 2019 and another in 2021.