COLUMBIA — The leadership role Aleighsa Welch once held with the South Carolina women’s basketball team was so great, no single player could fill it. So four of them are trying.
With the former Gamecocks great now playing professionally in Portugal, South Carolina’s four senior captains have taken up the mantle passed on by a player whose value went beyond points and rebounds. To her teammates, the Goose Creek product was equal parts counselor, cheerleader, role model, and coach on the floor, serving as the emotional engine which last season propelled USC to its first Final Four.
All that in addition to being a three-year captain and honorable mention All-American.