Predicting Dawn Staley's rotations for South Carolina women's basketball without Kamilla Cardoso

COLUMBIA — An instrumental part of South Carolina women's basketball 's offense is gone.

The Gamecocks utilized former center Kamilla Cardoso in every way possible, and the 6-foot-7 star was a fundamental part of the undefeated, championship season but now Cardoso plays in the WNBA . A lot of the offense was played through Cardoso, and there is no choice but to make a change.

Cardoso missed five games last season and the Gamecocks had no issue winning, especially with the talented bench and skill of Ashlyn Watkins, who started in place of Cardoso.

Here are different rotations to expect that may work to mitigate Cardoso's absence for the 2024-25 season:

South Carolina starters Chloe Kitts and Ashlyn Watkins

It's expected that coach Dawn Staley will use the same lineup she did last season, with Chloe Kitts and Watkins as the two frontcourt options.

While nothing is guaranteed as of July, Watkins and Kitts play well together. Both play really solid area defense in the paint, and collapse well to double team but also have the speed and athleticism to jump back out to defend the kick-out pass.

With Cardoso, who averaged 14 points last year, and Aliyah Boston the year prior, much of the offense relied on points in the paint. Now, with more 3-point shooters like Te-Hina Paopao, Bree Hall, Tessa Johnson and MiLaysia Fulwiley, the offense may look more like the UConn game in February. Kitts and Watkins worked the ball in and out of the perimeter, finding open seams rather than dishing to the paint last minute.

Sania Feagin and Maryam Dauda

Sania Feagin brings a lot of off-the-bench experience, and that could work well with Arkansas transfer Maryam Dauda in her first year wearing garnet and black. The height differences among Kitts, Watkins, Dauda and Feagin isn't drastic — they're all between 6-2 and 6-4 — but if Staley wants to play a big centric lineup, Dauda and Feagin cater to that play style.

When South Carolina played Arkansas last year, Staley spoke very highly of Dauda before she transferred to her program. Staley was asked about Dauda and before going into detail, repeated "she's good" three times.

"A big that has great footwork, a big that can shoot the 3-pointer, a big that keeps you off balance," Staley said. "She can put the ball on the floor, she's really, really, really good. I was very impressed, I found myself just complimenting her."

The tricky part is, if Dauda wants to play a more guard-like style, she will share that 3-point attempts with Hall, Raven Johnson and Paopao, which is why Staley likely will start Watkins and Kitts, since they are more of passing or drive-based forwards.

Clearly Dauda came to South Carolina for a reason, and Staley is a master of managing minutes.

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Sakima Walker, Adhel Tac: centers for South Carolina

Similar to Cardoso's journey through the Gamecocks' lineup year by year, Sakima Walker could very well be Staley's next true center. She played in 31 games last year but averaged just seven minutes, the lowest on the team.

Her 6-5 height and talent are enough to create productive offense with someone like Watkins, Kitts or even freshman Joyce Edwards, but it's just up to the direction Staley takes her offense and how she utilizes Walker.

A similar story with redshirt freshman Adhel Tac, who is still recovering from a long-term knee injury but has had a year to study Cardoso and the 2023-24 team's offense. She also may give Staley some help at that traditional five position.

Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at lkesin@gannett.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Lulukesin

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Predicting Dawn Staley's rotations for South Carolina women's basketball without Kamilla Cardoso