Shannon Johnson is the best USC WBB player to wear No. 14. What about 11-20?
Last week, we started The State’s “Best to Wear It” series where we pick the best players to wear specific jersey numbers for the South Carolina women’s basketball team.
Part one of the series highlighted the best USC players to wear the jersey numbers from No. 00 to No. 10. This week we’ll continue by selecting the best players to wear No. 11 to No. 20.
A reminder: Not every number will be included in this series. No player has ever worn a jersey number higher than 55 in South Carolina women’s basketball’s history, and some jersey numbers have never been worn at all. In this installment of the series, the Nos. 16, 17, 18 and 19 jerseys are omitted because no player has worn them, per the program’s record book.
Let’s get into the picks:
No. 11
The best to wear it: La’Keisha Sutton (2008-12)
Sutton was a key member of Dawn Staley’s first few teams at South Carolina. She helped lead the Gamecocks to the NCAA Tournament for the first time under Staley in 2012.
The New Jersey native was a unanimous selection to the SEC All-Freshman Team in Staley’s first year at the helm of the program in the 2008-09 season. Sutton averaged 11 points and 2.4 assists per game that year.
Sutton worked her way into being a mainstay of the starting rotation in her final three years as a Gamecock. She started 91 of the 125 games she played in at USC, including starting all but three games in her junior and senior years.
The best year of Sutton’s career came when she averaged 10.6 points and 1.3 steals per game as a senior. Those numbers landed her an All-SEC Second Team nod and an All-SEC Defensive Team selection.
Sutton averaged 10.4 points per game in her time with the Gamecocks and scored in double figures in more than half the games she played. She was the 11th player in program history to record 300 assists while scoring at least 1,000 points in her career.
Honorable mention: Madina Okot (2025-26), Lindsey Spann (2017-18)
No. 12
The best to wear it: Brantley Southers (1981-86)
Brantley Southers is in the University of South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame for a reason.
The Columbia native is No. 4 on the program’s all-time scoring list with 1,1984 points. Southers averaged 16.5 points per game in her career with the Gamecocks. She led South Carolina in scoring for the last three years of her career, including a 20.5-ppg mark in her senior season.
Southers’ name is peppered throughout the South Carolina record book. She is also third all-time for career field goals made (860). Only A’ja Wilson and Sheila Foster have done better.
Southers was one of the best players in the Metro Conference during her days with South Carolina. She was named to the All-Metro Conference First Team and the Metro Conference All-Tournament team three times in her career.
Southers was also an All-American three times and won the Metro Conference Player of the Year in 1986.
Honorable mentions: Charlene Dubose (1974-76), Rita Johnson (1977-81), Brea Beal (2019-23), MiLaysia Fulwiley (2023-25)
No. 13
The best to wear it: Martha Parker (1986-89)
Parker had an exceptional career with the Gamecocks. In fact, her career was so good that the No. 13 is retired and hanging in the rafters of Colonial Life Arena.
Parker was a three-time All-American and two-time Metro Conference Player of the Year at South Carolina. She started in 122 of the 124 games as a Gamecock and helped USC to three Metro Conference Championships and three NCAA Tournament appearances.
The Columbia native finished with 1,728 career points during her time with the Gamecocks. She averaged 13.9 points per game and also tallied 735 rebounds in her career. Parker finished as the program’s third-leading scorer and was second in career assists and steals.
Parker was inducted into the University of South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame in 1995. Last summer, she was the first honorable mention when The State picked four players to be considered as the Mount Rushmore of South Carolina women’s basketball.
Honorable mention: Sharon Rivers (1979-83)
No. 14
The best to wear it: Shannon Johnson (1993-96)
Much like Parker, Shannon Johnson’s career was so good that the No. 14 is retired and now hanging in the rafters of Colonial Life Arena.
Johnson is second in program history with a career average of 20.5 points per game. She’s the only Gamecock to ever average 20-plus points per game for three consecutive seasons.
The 2,230 points scored in her career were the most in program history when her time with the Gamecocks came to a close. That record stood until A’ja Wilson took the top spot.
Johnson was named to the All-SEC First Team three times in her career. In 1996, she was named an All-American and was also a finalist for the Naismith and Wade Trophies.
The Hartsville native was inducted into the University of South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004. Last summer, she was an honorable mention (alongside Parker) when The State picked four players to be considered as the Mount Rushmore of South Carolina women’s basketball.
Honorable mention: Marsi McAlister (1981-85), Iva Sliskovic (2004-07)
No. 15
The best to wear it: Cristina Ciocan (2000-04)
There haven’t been a very many stars, per se, to wear No. 15 for South Carolina. That being said, Cristina Ciocan was a talented guard for the Gamecocks in the early 2000s. Ciocan played in 116 games for South Carolina and was part of the program’s first Elite Eight run in 2002.
Ciocan averaged 8.7 points and 5.3 assists per game in her career with the Gamecocks. The Romanian earned All-SEC Third Team honors in her junior season when she averaged a career-high 13.6 points, 6.7 assists and 2.4 steals per game.
Ciocan scored 1,013 career points and led the team in scoring during the 2003-04 season. She recorded one of the program’s nine triple-doubles with a 22 point, 10 rebound and 13 assist performance vs Clemson in 2003.
The 5-foot-11 guard was best known for her facilitating. Ciocan is still No. 2 on the program’s career assist leaderboard (615) and holds the program record for assists in a game (18) and career assists average (5.3).
Honorable mention: Laeticia Amihere (2019-23)
No. 20
The best to wear it: Karen Middleton (1988-91)
The battle for the best to wear No. 20 comes down to two of the best 3-point shooters in the program’s history in Karen Middleton and Christi Timmons. In the end, we gave the nod to Middleton.
Middleton scored 1,714 points in her four years with the Gamecocks. She averaged at least 10 points per game in her career and finished with 13.4-ppg career average.
The McBee native was a Freshman All-American in 1988 and a two-time All-Metro Conference selection.
Middleton’s name is peppered throughout the program’s record book. Most notably, she holds the record for the most 3-point field goals made with 317. Middleton also holds the program record for career 3-point field goal percentage (44.5%). Timmons is right behind her in both of those categories.
Honorable mention: Christi Timmons (1991-95), Sania Feagin (2022-25)
This story was originally published June 8, 2026 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Shannon Johnson is the best USC WBB player to wear No. 14. What about 11-20?."
