Four years ago, a group chat was created.
'The Freshies' — also known as Aliyah Boston, Brea Beal, Laeticia Amihere, Zia Cooke and Olivia Thompson — were getting ready to sign to a college basketball program. The place they'd hopefully spend the next four years of their lives at. And they all had their sights set on one school, one coach in particular: South Carolina and Dawn Staley.
Now, four of the five have decided to enter the 2023 WNBA Draft and are hot picks for the league heading into Monday, April 10.
Thompson, on the other hand, posted a silly graphic online to commemorate her leave from the sport.
Someone brought up changing the username heading into their sophomore year, but it never went further, Thompson told the Post and Courier. Beal also said that it would hurt trying to rename their iconic squad. They'll go down in history as The Freshies, despite growing up.
The Sporting News laid out all you need to know about them and what they've contributed to the Gamecocks' legacy since 2019, ahead of the 2023 WNBA Draft.
MORE: Ultimate guide to the 2023 WNBA Draft
Who are 'The Freshies'?
Between 2019-2023, Boston, Beal, Amihere, Cooke and Thompson led South Carolina to the top of the mountain. What was already a powerhouse program became even more with what these five churned out on and off the court.
They've been through it all. From a pandemic canceling what should've been a national championship season in 2019-20, to breathing almost truly elite air when they went 36-0 until Iowa checkmated them in the Final Four in 2023.
In their time on the roster, South Carolina has held a 129-9 record. They were SEC regular season champions twice and SEC Tournament champions three times. They've seen three Final Four appearances in as many tries due to the 2020 cancelation and collected a national championship banner.
They even set a program record during the 2022-23 season for most wins (36) and beat nine ranked teams, ending their campaign ranked No. 1 overall three times.
They went wire-to-wire as the No. 1 team two consecutive times, equating to 38 weeks at the top of the pyramid — the Maddie Zielger's of women's basketball, Abby Lee Miller would say.
If they would've survived and won back-to-back championships, they would've entered into the status of basketball royalty. There have only been nine teams to win a title with a perfect record, and only two have repeated the feat.
MORE: South Carolina's almost undefeated season, by the numbers
'The Freshies' career stats
Boston led 'The Freshies' from the moment she stepped on campus, earning herself several dozen awards – her most recent being Naismith National Defensive Player of the Year.
She's a four-time AP All-American, four-time SEC Defensive Player of the Year, two-time SEC Player of the Year and consensus National Player of the Year (2022).
The five women combined for huge numbers in South Carolina's record books. Take a look below at how their total careers add up:
| Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Blocks | Steals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aliyah Boston | 3,751 | 1,942 | 1,493 | 265 | 330 | 141 |
| Brea Beal | 3,370 | 847 | 685 | 214 | 110 | 105 |
| Laeticia Amihere | 2,021 | 796 | 517 | 130 | 133 | 88 |
| Zia Cooke | 3,831 | 1,845 | 340 | 254 | 13 | 117 |
| Olivia Thompson | 312 | 83 | 19 | 10 | 1 | 4 |
| Total | 13,285 | 5,513 | 3,054 | 619 | 587 | 455 |
'The Freshies' draft projections
Minus Thompson, ESPN projects all four women going in either the first round or early second round.
Their latest mock has Boston at No. 1 overall to the Indiana Fever, Beal at No. 7 overall also to the Fever, Amihere at No. 8 overall to the Atlanta Dream and Cooke at No. 13 overall again to the Fever.
Currently, the Fever is home to South Carolina alumna Destanni Henderson, who was part of the roster for three years during 'The Freshies' tenure. The Dream has one South Carolina alumna in Allisha Gray, but she played before their time from 2016-2017.
