Dawn Staley heaps praise on Maryam Dauda, says her 3-point shooting is “probably the least efficient thing”
South Carolina coach Dawn Staley had nothing but good things to say about Arkansas transfer Maryam Dauda at the SEC Media Day on Wednesday. When asked about what the junior brings to the Gamecocks, Staley just gushed about her new forward.
"Maryam, she is the best young lady that we’ve added. Culture, we’ve added that," Staley said.
Speaking on Dauda's 3-point shooting ability, Staley had an interesting take on what else the junior brings to her team.
"I think sometimes when you see a player like Maryam as your opponent, I don’t know, she might have had two or three 3s on us, and I just knew she was a really good 3-point shooter, right?" Staley said. "That’s the identifiable thing that we liked about her coming to our team.
"But if I told you, that’s probably the least efficient thing that she does for us, like with everything outside of that she gives us."
The South Carolina coach then proceeded to list everything that Maryam Dauda brings to the Gamecocks, including defense and dribbling, saying:
"She’s a really good defender. She’s a great listener. She can score. She’s got multiple moves. She can dribble the basketball. She’s got a certain toughness about her. She’s coachable. Anything that we ask her to do, she does."
You can watch Dawn Staley's full presser at the SEC Media Day below:
(Staley speaks about Dauda from 5:19)
Maryam Daunda joined Dawn Staley this season from Arkansas
Dauda is an Arkansas native and played at Bentonville High School, where she was a five-star recruit in the Class of 2021. She played two seasons with the Razorbacks under coach Mike Neighbors before joining Staley at USC for the upcoming campaign. This past season, she averaged 10.1 ppg, 6.3 rpg and 2.2 bpg on 45% shooting.
Interestingly, the 6-foot-4 Dauda was Arkansas’ leading scorer when she came up against Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks in February earlier this year, posting 19 points in the loss.
Ending off her praise of Dauda, Staley emphasized that they got so much more than just a 3-point shooter in Dauda.
"I do think she’s going to help our basketball team," Staley said. "She’s going to stretch the floor for us. But we got so much more than a 3-point threat."
Dauda and the Gamecocks will begin their title defense in Las Vegas on Nov. 4 against Michigan.