Dawn Staley appears to be ‘sarcastically serious’ when she says that every day is an adventure. Part of it is because the head coach of the No. 3 South Carolina Gamecocks has had to deal with a season in which her team has looked more like a casualty ward than a championship-contending team. Freshman Agot Makeer was one of the latest names to join that long list after she suffered a concussion.

It’s safe to say that Staley talked about Makeer and the other players’ status in her pre-game interview with extreme caution.

“For the most part,” Dawn Staley said. “I don’t know. Every day is an adventure. But I’ll tell you this, whoever we have we’re going to play to the best of our ability.”

The Gamecocks have had all 10 of their players start and finish in just two games this season. Staley’s team ended its December 7 game against the North Carolina Central Eagles with only seven players, the fewest in this season for a roster plagued by injuries and illness.

But Makeer’s case needs special attention. The freshman player missed the games against the Louisville Cardinals and the Eagles because she was in concussion protocol after being stepped on during the Bowling Green Falcons game.

Makeer was in practice on Friday, shooting free throws with the other players. Staley said she’s “better,” but the coaches won’t let her rush her comeback.

“With Agot, you just have to be careful,” Staley said of Makeer’s situation. “We don’t want a second (concussion). We’re very, very careful about how we’re going to use her. It was good to have her in practice doing a little bit of things, but not all things.”

The Gamecocks’ next game against Penn State is on December 14.

Madina Okot was not at practice on Friday, and Staley would not say why. Okot was involved in the Eagles game but left the game four minutes before halftime due to illness. She returned to the bench but did not return to the court.

Tessa Johnson was also too sick to play in this contest, missing her first game of the season. She appeared to be fine in practice on Friday, though.

While Agot Makeer’s status is still unclear, she wasn’t the first name on the Gamecocks’ missing players list. In July, Ashlyn Watkins said she wouldn’t play this season. Then, Chloe Kitts tore her ACL, and that was curtains for her. What should have been a deep rotation has become a daily task of managing what is available.

How does Dawn Staley keep the Gamecocks focused?

Dawn Staley has four non-conference games left before SEC play starts on January 1. For such an injury-depleted roster, one may wonder how the veteran coach is even managing. Staley, though, is keeping it straight with her players through a very simple, understandable approach.

“I only see what’s in front of us,” Staley explained. “So we had eight today. I only see eight. We got reduced to seven, I only see seven… We can worry about whatever, whenever. But for me, whoever’s healthy, let us know who’s healthy, and then we can take it from there.”

The Gamecocks’ situation is bad, but they’re not the first ones to face such a crisis. The Auburn Tigers held walk-on tryouts in the middle of the ongoing season to fill out their roster. They were dealing with the same depth issues because of player unavailability. Two years ago, the TCU Horned Frogs’ injury problem got so bad that they had to forfeit a pair of games. The program held immediate open tryouts and signed four walk-on players just to finish the season.

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