Myisha Hines-allen leads 12 Gamecocks onto 2026 WNBA rosters
myisha hines-allen opened the 2026 WNBA season with South Carolina’s deepest pro footprint yet: all 12 Gamecocks who entered April training camp made opening-day rosters. The total is the most active Gamecocks the program has ever had on opening day, and it puts Dawn Staley’s group atop the SEC with 12 roster spots.
Staley’s 12 roster spots
That number also gives South Carolina the edge in a conference that has 36 alumnae on rosters, including players on developmental contracts. The Gamecocks have added nine players to the league in the last five years, the most of any college program, and 19 of the 23 Gamecocks who have played in the WNBA have done so during Staley’s 17-year tenure.
A’ja Wilson remains the standard-setter in that run. The Las Vegas Aces forward was South Carolina’s first No. 1 selection in 2018, has won a league-record four MVP trophies in her first eight seasons, has been an All-WNBA selection six times, has earned five All-Star nods and has taken Defensive Player of the Year honors three times while guiding Las Vegas to three WNBA championships over the last four seasons.
Atlanta and Indiana
Atlanta adds two more Gamecocks to the mix. Allisha Gray is entering her 10th season and her third in Atlanta after going fourth overall to Dallas in 2017, while Te-Hina Paopao is back for her second season after being selected in the second round by the Dream in 2025. Madina Okot also made Atlanta’s opening-day group after the Dream took her with the No. 13 overall pick in the 2026 draft.
Indiana has three Gamecocks on its roster, giving the Fever one of the largest South Carolina clusters in the league. Aliyah Boston, the 2023 No. 1 overall draft pick and Rookie of the Year, is joined by Tyasha Harris, a six-year veteran returning via free agency after being drafted seventh overall in 2020, and Raven Johnson, the 10th pick in the 2026 draft after an All-America, SEC Defensive Player of the Year senior season.
West Coast and Chicago
The rest of the opening-day count is spread across the West Coast and Chicago. Sania Feagin reclaimed a roster spot with the Los Angeles Sparks after being drafted in the second round in 2025, and Ta’Niya Latson joined her there after going in the second round of the 2026 draft. Laeticia Amihere earned a fourth straight roster spot with the Golden State Valkyries after beginning her career in Atlanta as the eighth overall pick, while Zia Cooke is back with Seattle for the second season after her first two years in Los Angeles and after going 10th overall in 2023.
Kamilla Cardoso rounds out the group in Chicago, entering her third season after the Sky made her the third overall pick in the 2024 draft. South Carolina’s opening-day total now stands as the clearest snapshot of Staley’s pro pipeline: more players active on opening day than ever before, and the SEC lead that comes with it.
