South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said French recruit Alicia Tournebize will not debut as a Gamecock yet, as she is working through personal matters before joining the team on the court. The three-time women’s basketball championship coach hopes those issues will be resolved, allowing Tournebize to begin practicing with the team as soon as next week.
Dawn Staley Reveals Target Date for Alicia Tournebize’s First Practice
After Friday’s practice, Staley told the media that Tournebize will not play Sunday in Gainesville against Florida. She noted the 6-foot-7 French player has not yet practiced with the team while adjusting to her new environment in the U.S.
However, the daughter of former professional basketball player Isabelle Fijalkowski will travel with the team to Florida to observe how the team plays and to become acclimated to the NCAA game.
The veteran coach noted that the school has helped Tournebize, 18, find an apartment where she will live while studying and playing for South Carolina. Staley said she may join full-contact practice next week.
“We’ll do that once she’s able to hit the floor, which is probably next week,” Staley said.
The 55-year-old coach added that the Frenchwoman is significantly more mature than her age, thanks to her early professional basketball experience in the LFB with Tango Bourges Basket. She expects Tournebize to adapt easily to both gameplay and daily life in the U.S. because of that background.
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Staley believes that Tournebize, who became the first Frenchwoman to dunk in an official game in September 2024, will gain significant playing experience once she begins full-contact practice in Columbia and potentially during the second half of the 2025-26 regular season.
She said Tournebize could follow a similar path to Gamecocks forward Chloe Kitts, who enrolled early in college and bypassed her senior year to play immediately.
“We approached the idea of her coming to college and playing right away. She wasn’t playing a whole lot on her professional team, and it’s just because she’s young. We just thought it kind of worked out with Chloe. Being able to come in and play right away was something that was appealing to her,” Staley said.
Adding Tournebize would raise South Carolina’s ceiling, allowing center Madina Okot to shift to power forward and Joyce Edwards to slide to small forward later in the season. She would also provide depth to a frontcourt that has been thinned by injuries to Kitts and forward Ashlyn Watkins.
South Carolina (14-1, 1-0 SEC) aims to move to 2-0 in SEC play when it visits Florida on Sunday, Jan. 4, at the O’Connell Center in Gainesville, Florida. Tipoff is set at 2 p.m. ET, with the SEC Network carrying the broadcast.
The Gamecocks are coming off an 83-57 victory over Alabama on Thursday at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina. The Gators (12-4, 0-1 SEC) are coming off a 76-65 loss to No. 23 Tennessee in their previous game, also on Thursday.