March 12, 2025
Sania Feagin’s WNBA draft stock is on the rise
By Hunter Cruse
Staley: 'I never let Feagin play less than her standard. That meant she sat a lot, but this year, it paid off'
GREENVILLE, S.C. – With only a few seconds left in the third quarter of South Carolina’s SEC title win over Texas, senior center Sania Feagin fired just before the buzzer, draining her third 3-pointer of the season to stretch the Gamecocks’ lead to 19.
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This moment was the culmination of years of development and patience. Feagin, the No. 4 recruit in the 2022 recruiting class, could have easily started for most Division I programs. Instead, she chose to stay and learn behind All-Americans Aliyah Boston and Kamilla Cardoso, playing only 5.9 minutes per game in her first two seasons.
“It’s really cool to see someone go through their process,” head coach Dawn Staley told reporters following the SEC title. “The first three years of [Feagin] didn’t quite look, feel or sound like what she was capable of. … I never let Feagin play less than her standard. That meant she sat a lot, but this year, it paid off.”
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Feagin went through an up-and-down start to the 2024-25 season, struggling with foul trouble and offensive consistency as she adjusted to being a full-time starter. Over her first 15 games, she averaged 6.7 points and 3.7 rebounds on 54.9% shooting from 2 in 16.1 minutes per game.
However, after backup center Ashlyn Watkins suffered a season-ending knee injury on Jan. 5, Staley no longer had a safety net to turn to if Feagin was struggling.
Since the injury, Feagin has stepped up to the challenge, improving her scoring averages to 9.2 points and 5.3 rebounds on 67.6% shooting from 2 over the last 18 games.
“When she’s locked in, she’s communicative, she has great footwork, great touch and can stick to a gameplan,” Staley said. “You’re seeing all of her skill set that we saw during the recruiting process that we didn’t see on a consistent basis during her first three years.”
Feagin has not just become a quality high-major starting center — she’s played her way into WNBA draft conversations. At 6’3 with a 6’5 wingspan, she is a master at the little things, from her help rotations and defensive communication to her screening and intuitive feel for spacing on offense.
What truly sets Feagin apart from other center prospects is how quickly she processes the game and her creativity as a passer. In the SEC title game alone, she delivered a wrap-around pass to a weakside shooter and a one-handed pass on the roll with her off-hand.
Coming into the season, The Next’s 2025 preseason draft board (put together by our scouting team, including myself) had two key questions about Feagin:
- Could she develop comfort with an offensive game outside of 10 feet?
- Is there a world where she can maintain her absurd per-minute production when she sees more playing time?
She’s now answered both. In three games at the SEC Tournament, Feagin scored 13 points on shots beyond 10 feet from the rim — more than she had in her freshman and sophomore seasons combined (9), per CBB Analytics.
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“I feel like it’s my confidence,” Feagin told The Next. “I’ve always had the shot and was able to make those shots, but now, I’m just mentally [more confident].”
Feagin has a smooth one-motion release with good balance and touch. She’s now up to 47.4% on medium-distance 2s and 43.5% on long 2s, per CBB Analytics.
For comparison, these are both higher marks than USC’s Kiki Iriafen and LSU’s Aneesah Morrow, albeit on lower volume.
South Carolina bigs, from Laeticia Amihere and Victaria Saxton to Cardoso and Boston, aren’t asked to shoot 3-pointers within Staley’s scheme. So, it’s not out of the realm of possibilities that Feagin will become a quality 3-point spacer in a WNBA system that utilizes her that way.
Feagin can continue building up her draft stock with quality play throughout the rest of March. Based on scheme fit, she could be an option as early as No. 11 to Minnesota and No. 12 to Dallas. The Lynx and Wings also hold early second-round picks at No. 15 and No. 14, respectively.
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