South-Carolina
South Carolina editorial board encourages GOP to clear the field for Haley to take on Trump
The editorial board for The Post and Courier in South Carolina is encouraging the GOP to clear the field for former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley to take on former President Trump, arguing a crowded field will lead to Trump’s reelection.
“Donald Trump won the GOP nomination in 2016 not because he was the choice of most Republican primary voters; he was not,” an editorial op-ed for The Post and Courier read Saturday. “He won because, in a crowded field, he got more votes than any of his rivals in South Carolina, and then in later-voting states.”
The op-ed argued Trump remains unpopular among independents and “a large chunk” of Republicans and attributed his leading poll numbers to the crowded field of candidates “drowning each other out.”
“The result, if the field remains crowded, is that Mr. Trump will again win the nomination,” the op-ed read.
The editorial board went on to argue that a scenario in which Trump becomes the 2024 GOP presidential nominee is disastrous for voters across the political spectrum.
The op-ed said it would be a bad outcome for Republicans because Trump is “the least likely candidate to defeat President Joe Biden,” and for Democrats and independents “because there’s no guarantee that Mr. Biden would win a rematch.”
“Although Ms. Haley should never be confused with a moderate, she could easily be next year’s choice of independents and traditional Republicans,” the op-ed continued. “But that requires the other candidates getting out of the way.”
The op-ed said it joins the calls of others such as former Texas Rep. Will Hurd, who endorsed Haley after dropping out of the Republican presidential primary earlier this month, and columnist George Will, who called for Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) to drop out and back Haley instead in a Washington Post op-ed.
“But as Mr. Will explained, and as Mr. Hurd and others who have been calling for an early winnowing have understood, a compressed start to the primary season means it will be nearly impossible for one candidate to consolidate the vote after the voting has started; that takes time and money and organization that a challenger needs to be putting into place right now,” the op-ed wrote. “Even starting now, the odds remain against victory for a serious, qualified Republican.”
Describing Haley — who also served as the former governor of South Carolina — as the one Republican who is “clearly ascending” in polls, fundraising and “willingness to challenge” Trump, the op-ed said Haley’s foreign policy credentials “leaves the rest of this year’s GOP field in the dust.”
Haley has made foreign policy a central focus of her campaign, vowing to back Ukraine and Israel in their respective conflicts against Russia and Hamas, as well as fight the growing influence of China.
Haley, along with her GOP rivals, has struggled to make a dent in Trump’s considerable lead in the Republican presidential primary polls. A recent poll from Morning Consult shows Trump leading with 59 percent of the likely GOP vote, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has 14 percent support and Haley and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy are tied for 6 percent.
However, another poll from Fox News shows Haley could stand a chance against President Biden. In a hypothetical match-up between Biden and Haley, she tops the incumbent by 4 points. In that same poll, Trump and Biden are shown to be a tight match-up, with Biden edging Trump out by just 1 point.
Will, a longtime columnist at The Washington Post, is also a contributor for cable news channel NewsNation, an outlet that is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
South-Carolina
South Carolina Graduation Success Rate Figures Announced
The University of South Carolina athletic program tied for third in the Southeastern Conference in the latest Graduation Success Rate, released Wednesday by the NCAA.
The Graduation Success Rate (GSR) measures the number of scholarship student-athletes that graduate within a six-year period of their initial full-time enrollment. For this report, the GSR is based on student-athletes who entered college in the fall of 2017.
South Carolina’s athletic teams had a 94 percent score, which tied with Auburn University and the University of Mississippi in the SEC behind Vanderbilt (96) and Alabama (96). South Carolina’s Football GSR score (95) ranked second among SEC schools and South Carolina schools. It tied for ninth among all Power 5 schools.
“I am so proud of the academic achievements of our student-athletes,” said Athletics Director Ray Tanner. “Our student-athletes work hard in practice and in games, and they also put in the time with their academics. We have the staff and resources to help our student-athletes reach their goal of graduation.
An outstanding nine teams scored a perfect GSR (100): Men’s Soccer, Men’s Tennis, Women’s Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Softball, Women’s Soccer, Women’s Tennis, Women’s Track & Field, and Volleyball.
Thirteen of South Carolina’s NCAA-sponsored teams met or exceeded the Division I national average for their sport.
“Once again our student-athletes have demonstrated a strong tradition of academic dedication and tenacity”, said Charlie Ball, Associate AD. “Student-athletes at the University of South Carolina have a competitive edge in the classroom and in their respective sports. We are excited to have the ability to offer notable academic support and provide a one-of-a-kind SEC academic experience.”
A Record of Academic Success
Gamecock Athletics has developed a proud tradition of academic success, achieving numerous honors and reaching high levels of achievement during the 2023-24 academic year.
- Student-athletes at USC ended the Spring 2024 semester with a departmental grade point average (GPA) of 3.37. It was the 35th consecutive semester with a departmental GPA above 3.0. The cumulative GPA for all student-athletes in each sport since they arrived at Carolina is 3.41, which is the third highest cumulative grade point average ever for Gamecock student-athletes.
- 133 Gamecock student-athletes earned their degrees during the 2023-24 academic year.
- South Carolina had 430 members on the SEC Academic Honor Roll (fall, winter, spring, first-year), which was third in the SEC. Since 2015-16, South Carolina leads all schools with 3,748 members of the SEC Academic Honor Roll. South Carolina led all schools in SEC Academic Honor Roll in seven of the last nine years (2nd – 2017-18; 3rd – 2023-24).
- Six Gamecocks earned College Sports Communicators Academic All-America honors. It is the first time since 2021 that Gamecocks have had multiple first-team and six overall Academic All-Americans. The list includes Dylan Taggart, Men’s Track & Field (1st Team / CSC Academic All-America Track & Field Team Member of the Year), Sarah Hamner, Women’s Tennis (1st Team), Anass Essayi , Men’s Track & Field (2ndTeam), Cole Messina, Baseball (3rd Team), Skylar Allen, Beach Volleyball (3rd Team) and Louise Rydqvist, Women’s Golf (3rd Team).
- 43 Gamecocks earned College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors and four earned conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors in their respective sports – Dylan Taggart (SEC Indoor & Outdoor Track Scholar-Athlete of the Year), Louis Rvdqvist (SEC women’s golf), Ayana Akli (SEC women’s tennis) and Skylar Allen (CCSA Beach Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year).
South-Carolina
JuJu Watkins, Hannah Hidalgo, South Carolina highlight women’s games to watch this week
Napheesa Collier on what to expect from Unrivaled basketball league
Napheesa Collier chats with Mackenzie Salmon about the inspiration behind starting the new Unrivaled basketball league with Breanna Stewart.
Sports Seriously
Technically, Feast Week is still three days away, but given some of the star-powered matchups this week in women’s college hoops, those who are craving good basketball are going to get their fill — and then some.
The two biggest games of the week are both taking place in L.A., more proof that Hollywood really does attract the biggest and best stars. While USC-Notre Dame and UCLA-South Carolina will command plenty of attention, don’t discount some of the unranked and/or mid-major schools listed below. November is a great time to get familiar with non-brand names that could make a run come March.
And with that, here are five women’s college games to watch this week.
Belmont at No. 14 Duke
Thursday, 7 p.m. on ACC Network
Don’t be fooled by Belmont’s 2-2 record — the Bruins took No. 11 Ohio State to the wire last week, and Bart Brooks is one of the best coaches in the country, period. Belmont boasts a balanced scoring attack, with five players averaging 8.0 points or more, but in order to pull an upset in historic Cameron Indoor Stadium, they’re going to need Kendall Holmes (12.2 ppg, 4.8 rpg) and Emily La Chapell (11.5 ppg, 3.0 apg) to step up. Duke, which also has a balanced attack, won’t make it easy, especially if Ashlon Jackson (13.2 ppg, 40% 3FG) and Reigan Richardson (11.4 ppg, 41.2% 3FG) are hitting from outside.
No. 9 Oklahoma at UNLV
Friday, 3:30 ET on Mountain West Network
This could be interesting. UNLV has ruled the Mountain West for a few years, and is often ranked at the end of the regular season. But the Rebels have yet to make major noise in the NCAA tournament, even though they’re often a popular upset pick. Could a win at home over a top 10 team help build the confidence they need to do some damage in March? To upset the Sooners they’ll have to figure out how to handle junior center Raegan Beers (21.2 ppg, 11.8 rpg), arguably the top transfer in the country.
Harvard at Northwestern
Saturday, 1 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network+
Harvard’s already picked up one win against a Big Ten team, knocking off then-ranked Indiana in Bloomington in the second game of the season. And given that the Crimson feature one of the best players in the country you haven’t heard of — senior guard Harmoni Turner is averaging 23.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists and shooting 45.1% from the field — the chances of notching another big road win look good.
No. 5 Notre Dame at No. 3 USC
Saturday, 4 p.m. ET on NBC/Peacock
The two best sophomores in the country, USC’s JuJu Watkins and Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo take centerstage in a game that could very well break scoring records based on how much these two guards love to push pace. Watkins (21.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 4.8 spg) is pro-ready in just her second year of college hoops and Hidalgo (25.0 ppg, 5.2 spg) is maybe the best on-ball defender in the country, a pest who knows how to steal the ball and turn it into points on the other end. But these two are hardly one-woman shows. USC got a gem out of the transfer portal in Kiki Iriafen (17.3 ppg, 7.5 rpg) and the Irish’s other star guard, Olivia Miles (18.3 ppg, 6.8), is healthy after missing last season. You’re going to want popcorn handy when you tune into this game.
No. 1 South Carolina at No. 6 UCLA
Sunday, 4 p.m. ET on FS1
UCLA junior center Lauren Betts (21.5 ppg, 11.5 rpg) is an early favorite to contend for national player of the year honors. One thing that would help make a case for her: a stellar performance against the defending champs. That’s a tall task though, even for the 6-foot-7 Betts. She’ll be going up against Gamecocks like Joyce Edwards (10.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg), a freshman who plays like a veteran, and Ashlyn Watkins (5.7 ppg, 1.3 bpg), who proved last year she’s one of the best defenders in the country. Will UCLA and Betts be able to slow Chloe Kitts (17.3 ppg, 10.3 rpg) and Te-Hina Paopao (13.5 ppg, 44% 3FG)? They’ll have to in order to beat South Carolina. A big game from transfer Timea Gardiner (14.5 ppg, 57.7% 3FG) would also help.
USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll: Defending national champions remain at No. 1
Email Lindsay Schnell at lschnell@usatoday.com and follow her on social media @Lindsay_Schnell
South-Carolina
Updated NFL Draft projections for South Carolina football standouts
The South Carolina football record for single-year NFL Draft selections in the modern era is seven. Both the 2009 draft and 2013 draft saw seven Gamecocks selected. (Back in 1954, nine USC alums went in a much longer draft.)
The 2025 NFL Draft could challenge those numbers.
The Gamecocks will be well-represented in April’s draft, especially on defense. You can check out some recent draft projections below. (The only underclassmen included are TJ Sanders and Nick Emmanwori because of their expected early-round selections.)
[GamecockCentral: $1 for 7 days and 50% off first year]
TJ Sanders
The player most consistently mocked in the 1st round among the draft-eligible Gamecocks is big TJ Sanders. The athletic defensive tackle has gotten top-30 love from CBS Sports’ Chris Trapasso and Mike Renner. Other outlets predict a 2nd or 3rd-round selection, but Sanders appears to be a lock in the top 100.
Nick Emmanwori
Nick Emmanwori has been one of several standouts on this year’s defense at South Carolina. Because of that, the talented safety has become one of the top players at his position in the 2025 draft. Some even consider him this cycle’s best overall safety. Emmanwori is big, fast, and great on the back end. CBS’ Ryan Wilson views the freaky athlete as a 1st-rounder. Most outlets seem to position him in the 2nd round.
Kyle Kennard
Coming into 2024 as a late-round guy, Kyle Kennard has played himself into a new future. Now, following an All-American showing this fall, he has been mocked as high as the late 1st round but seems settled into somewhere in the top 100 according to most sources. That is exactly where The Draft Network’s Keith Sanchez projects Kennard. Sanchez calls him a “Day 2” pick, meaning he believes Kennard will go in the 2nd or 3rd round.
Rocket Sanders
Running backs aren’t nearly as highly coveted in the draft as they used to be, but Rocket Sanders is among the names garnering consideration. The 33rd Team’s Kyle Crabbs projects Sanders to be a 5th-round pick. That also tracks with other NFL Draft big boards and mocks. Most outlets seem to think Sanders will be off the board between the fourth and seventh rounds.
DeAndre Jules
An under-the-radar Gamecock in draft circles in DeAndre Jules. The big defensive tackle has missed some time this fall, but the NFL is still intrigued by the big fella. Walter Football’s Charlie Campbell projects Jules to go in the 3rd or 4th round in April. That is higher than most other mocks, though. When Jules is included on other NFL Draft boards, it is as a potential late-round pick.
Josh Simon
As part of a strong season, Josh Simon tied USC’s single-season touchdown record for tight ends (6) against Missouri. Because of his production, the NFL is taking notice. AtoZSports NFL Draft analyst Ryan Roberts called Simon “a better pro than college player,” which is significant because he’s a really good college tight end. NFL Draft pundits are late to the party, but he’s starting to get late-round buzz as a possible 5th-round to 7th-round selection. The offseason should be kind to Simon’s draft stock.
O’Donnell Fortune
O’Donnell Fortune could be the next South Carolina cornerback to make his way into the draft. In fact, earlier this fall, NFL Draft analyst Tony Pauline gave the Palmetto State native a 6th-round grade. Several other outlets have followed suit recently. Fortune has had a strong senior season in Columbia and should find himself in professional football next year, whether via draft selection or free agent contract. He is a “stock up” candidate.
Demetrius Knight
Demetrius Knight is an NFL linebacker. Because he didn’t play until last year (with Charlotte) and has just one season in the SEC, his stock isn’t high. As things stand, Walter Football’s Charlie Campbell lists Knight as a 6th or 7th-round pick. However, Knight’s size and speed should see him be an offseason riser. His physical testing numbers and pop on film should impress scouts.
Tonka Hemingway
Heading into the season, Tonka Hemingway was viewed as a potential major riser for the 2025 NFL Draft. With other players also stepping up around the country at the position, a solid year for Hemingway hasn’t seen that draft stock bump come to fruition. Walter Football’s Charlie Campbell calls Hemingway a 6th or 7th-round pick.
[Win two tickets to the South Carolina-Wofford football game]
Other Late-Round/Undrafted Free Agent Hopefuls
*The players listed below have received 7th-round or undrafted free agent grades from various outlets*
LB Debo Williams
G/C Torricelli Simpkins
C/G Vershon Lee
LB Bam Martin-Scott
DT Boogie Huntley
WR Gage Larvadain
P Kai Kroeger
LS Hunter Rogers
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