Why Brooke Quarles-Daniels Could Be More Valuable to South Carolina Without Starting at Point Guard

When South Carolina went looking for another guard in August, the obvious need was at point guard.

Raven Johnson was gone to the WNBA.

Maddy McDaniel, who had spent the previous two seasons learning behind Johnson, had also left the program.

That left Dawn Staley with a roster full of talented players, but without an obvious replacement for the player who had directed South Carolina’s offense for nearly four seasons.

Then Brooke Quarles-Daniels arrived.

The fifth-year transfer from Michigan was immediately viewed as one of the players who could help solve the point-guard problem.

That makes sense.

Quarles-Daniels has played the position before, has started 31 games for Michigan last season, and has the experience Staley was looking for.

But there is another possibility that could become just as important.

Quarles-Daniels may ultimately be more valuable to this South Carolina team if she does not have to be its full-time starting point guard.

That does not mean she cannot play the position.

It means South Carolina may have more to gain by treating her as a veteran piece who can move between roles depending on what the game demands.

And Staley has already hinted that this is exactly the kind of flexibility she wants.

South Carolina does not need another Raven Johnson

The easiest mistake would be trying to replace Johnson by finding one player who does everything Johnson did.

Staley has already made it clear that South Carolina is not approaching the position that way.

During preseason, she described the point-guard responsibility as a committee situation.

Tessa Johnson, Agot Makeer, Jerzy Robinson and Quarles-Daniels have all been involved in the competition.

Staley also explained that she does not necessarily want the player bringing the ball up the floor to spend the entire possession functioning like a traditional point guard.

The instruction is much simpler.

Get the ball into the right hands.

Move it quickly.

Then become a wing, scorer or shooter.

That distinction matters for Quarles-Daniels.

Because if she is not required to control every possession, she can spend more of her energy doing the things that already made her valuable at Michigan.

Her defensive value is probably the easiest fit

Quarles-Daniels comes to Columbia with a reputation built heavily on defense.

She was named to the Big Ten All-Defensive Team last season after averaging 2.5 steals per game, which ranked second in the conference.

Michigan’s official statistics show that she played 35 games, started 31 and averaged 25.4 minutes.

She finished the season averaging 5.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.5 steals per game.

Those numbers tell an interesting story.

She was not brought to South Carolina because she needed to become a high-volume scorer.

She was brought in because she can contribute in several areas without requiring the offense to revolve around her.

That could be extremely useful for a team with Joyce Edwards, Tessa Johnson, Jordan Lee and several other players capable of creating offense.

Quarles-Daniels can defend the ball.

She can rebound from the guard position.

She can make the next pass.

She can pressure passing lanes.

And she can bring a level of college experience that many of South Carolina’s younger guards simply do not have yet.

That becomes even more valuable when she is not carrying the entire responsibility of running the offense.

Sunday offered an early clue

South Carolina’s 91-60 exhibition victory over College of Charleston on Sept. 27 provided the first public look at how Staley might use her new pieces.

The Gamecocks had only nine active players available entering the game, and Ayla McDowell left after being hit in the face early in the second quarter.

That meant the available players had to take on larger workloads than they might during a normal regular-season rotation.

Quarles-Daniels was one of the players who played significant minutes.

She finished with four points.

That number is not particularly important by itself.

What matters more is that South Carolina did not need her to become a primary scorer.

Joyce Edwards led the Gamecocks with 28 points and 16 rebounds.

Tessa Johnson added 23 points.

Jordan Lee scored 15 points while making all four of her 3-point attempts.

Agot Makeer added 12.

That is a lot of offensive production coming from players other than Quarles-Daniels.

And that is precisely why her role could become interesting.

South Carolina does not necessarily need Quarles-Daniels to create 15 or 20 points every night.

The team may benefit more if she can spend her minutes making life difficult for opposing guards while allowing the higher-volume offensive players to do what they do best.

Imagine the second unit

This is where the idea becomes more interesting.

South Carolina has enough offensive talent that its second unit does not have to be built around scoring alone.

A veteran guard such as Quarles-Daniels could provide a defensive foundation for a group that includes younger players.

She could pick up the opposing point guard.

She could push the ball after a defensive rebound.

She could make the simple pass that gets the offense moving.

Then she could get out of the way and let someone else attack.

That is a different kind of point-guard role.

It is less about having the ball in your hands for 30 seconds and more about making the right decision when the ball reaches you.

It also fits what Staley said she wanted from her guards.

Once the primary ball-handler gives up the ball, Staley wants that player to become a wing, scorer or shooter.

Quarles-Daniels has already shown that she can operate without needing to dominate the ball.

At Oakland, she averaged 12.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.2 steals over her two seasons.

She was also named Horizon League Freshman of the Year.

That background matters because she has already experienced a larger offensive role.

She does not need to prove that she can carry a bigger statistical workload.

At South Carolina, her value can come from doing the less glamorous things well.

The rebounding is an underrated part of this

One of the most interesting numbers from Quarles-Daniels’ Michigan season was her 5.4 rebounds per game.

That is significant for a 5-foot-7 guard.

It also gives Staley another way to use her.

A guard who can defend, force turnovers and finish defensive possessions with a rebound can change the pace of a game without scoring much.

A steal becomes more dangerous when the same player can immediately push the ball.

A defensive rebound prevents a second-chance opportunity and can start South Carolina’s transition game.

And because South Carolina has traditionally placed enormous value on pressure defense and playing fast, those possessions matter.

Quarles-Daniels does not have to be the player who finishes the possession.

She can be the player who starts it.

There is one obvious offensive concern

There is also a reason why keeping Quarles-Daniels away from a heavy offensive burden could make sense.

Her perimeter shooting has not been a major part of her college résumé.

She went 0-for-7 from 3-point range during her two seasons at Michigan, according to Greenville News reporting.

That does not mean she cannot shoot.

It does mean opposing defenses may be willing to give her space until she proves otherwise.

For a player operating as the primary point guard, that can create problems.

If the defense is comfortable going under screens, driving lanes can become smaller.

If the ball-handler cannot punish the defense from outside, the offense has to find other ways to create advantages.

But that concern becomes smaller if Quarles-Daniels is surrounded by shooting and playmaking.

Instead of asking her to manufacture offense against a set defense, South Carolina can let Tessa Johnson, Jordan Lee and others create advantages while Quarles-Daniels keeps the ball moving.

That could be a better offensive environment for her.

Her experience could matter most late in games

There is another reason not to measure Quarles-Daniels solely by whether she starts.

She has NCAA Tournament experience.

Michigan reached the NCAA Tournament in both of her seasons there and advanced to the Elite Eight in 2026.

She has also started 85 of her 128 college games across Oakland and Michigan.

That is a lot of high-level basketball experience.

South Carolina’s roster is talented, but much of its backcourt is young or new.

A veteran who has already experienced tournament pressure can be useful even when she is not on the floor for the opening tip.

In fact, there may be situations where having her available as the game develops is more important.

If South Carolina needs defensive pressure, she can enter.

If a younger guard is struggling with ball security, she can stabilize the backcourt.

If the opponent’s lead guard starts getting comfortable, Quarles-Daniels can take that assignment.

If the Gamecocks need another rebounder on the floor, she provides that too.

That is the advantage of a versatile veteran.

Starting is not the same as importance

This is the bigger point.

The best role for Quarles-Daniels does not necessarily have to be the one with her name listed first on the lineup card.

South Carolina is entering a season where Staley has more than one player capable of handling the ball.

The goal is not necessarily to identify one replacement for Raven Johnson.

It is to build a backcourt where different players can handle different responsibilities.

Quarles-Daniels fits that idea unusually well.

She has already played point guard.

She has already been a starter.

She has already been a defensive specialist.

She has already carried a bigger offensive role.

Now she has the chance to bring all of that experience into a roster where she does not have to do everything.

That could be her biggest value.

The first exhibition showed that South Carolina has plenty of players capable of producing points.

Joyce Edwards and Tessa Johnson combined for 51 points against Charleston.

Jordan Lee immediately showed her shooting ability.

Makeer provided another scoring option.

The question is less about whether South Carolina can find players who can score.

It is about whether the Gamecocks can connect all those pieces without losing defensive intensity, ball movement and control.

That is where Quarles-Daniels could become particularly important.

She does not have to be South Carolina’s next Raven Johnson.

She does not have to be the team’s highest-volume creator.

She does not even have to start every game.

She can be the veteran guard who changes the game when she enters it.

And for a team trying to replace several major pieces at once, that kind of player can be difficult to replace.

Staley has already said the point-guard job will be handled by committee.

If that remains the plan, Quarles-Daniels may have an opportunity to become something more useful than simply South Carolina’s starting point guard.

She could become one of the players who makes the entire rotation work.