"Program Changer" Commits to USC

Coach Staley Making It Happen For Lady Gamecocks

Below is a collection of paragraphs from Ron Morris's assessment of USC landing powerhouse women's basketball recruit Kelsey Bone.

I couldn't put the full article on blog but Morris goes on to say that USC hasn't seen a national impact recruit like this since the Gamecocks pulled Quarterback Todd Ellis from North Carolina.

The arrival of Bone may be the beginning of a new era for USC. I've heard more than a few times that the hire of Dawn Staley as coach of the Lady Gamecocks could eventually brand USC as a woman's basketball school.

Staley and Bone may be raising the bar for the other Gamecock coaches. FJ

When Kelsey Bone of Sugar Land, Texas, told a national TV audience she intended to play for Dawn Staley at USC, it shook the women’s college basketball world. It also created a stir at USC, where the number of national top-level recruits over the years in any sport is few.

Bone is considered by some recruiting experts as the top girls high school basketball player in the country. She was named the McDonald’s national player of the year. Her decision to spurn Texas, Texas A&M and Illinois to play for a program halfway across the country is stunning news.

Bone’s decision cannot be minimized, said ESPN women’s basketball analyst Debbie Antonelli.

Bone is a 6-foot-5 Parade All-American center who is mobile and a force on both ends of the basketball floor. Antonelli describes her as a “program changer.” Her commitment to USC is every bit the women’s basketball equivalent of Georgia football signing quarterback Matthew Stafford out of Texas or North Carolina basketball landing Tyler Hansbrough out of Missouri.