Michigan women’s basketball guard Brooke Quarles Daniels had an excellent journey in her four years of college basketball.
The 5-foot-7 guard from Macomb, Mich. played two years at Oakland, averaging 12.8 points, 2.9 assists and 2.2 steals per game while named to the All-Horizon League Second Team twice, as Freshman of the Year in 2023. Then, she transferred to the Wolverines, representing her home state for two seasons that took her from a defensive sparkplug off the bench to a senior veteran leader,
standout defender on a national scale and an Elite Eight starter.
Quarles Daniels was second in the Big Ten with 2.4 steals per game in conference play, averaging 5.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 2.1 steals per game alongside a 1.7 assist-to-turnover ratio in her final season for Michigan.
“Brooke, she’s one of the hardest workers on the team, and she’s given us literally everything she could possibly give to our team,” junior guard Olivia Olson said March 30 following the Elite Eight loss. “With defense and just pressing all the time and just being a leader for our team, like she’s really given everything. So it kind of just was like that, ‘This is how you’re going to go out. You’re going to go out doing the same thing as you always have.’ ”
But now, thanks to an Aug. 18 ruling, Quarles Daniels isn’t necessarily going out just yet. As part of a California lawsuit to gain extra eligibility, Quarles Daniels was among a group of Class of 2022 athletes who, via court ruling, were allowed to enter the transfer portal, entering the portal that same day, and committing to South Carolina on Aug. 28.
It all comes back to the “5 for 5” NCAA rule, based on a continuous five-year eligibility period depending on the student-athlete’s age and enrollment year. While the Glancey v. NCAA case has additional hearings on Sept. 29 and Dec. 3 which may influence Quarles Daniels’ ability to play, the Superior Court in Santa Clara County granted a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to make 73 student-athletes — including Quarles Daniels — eligible again, as explained by USA Today.
While conferences, including the SEC, announced rules forbidding players from competing in the conference if they’d signed a contract with pro leagues, like the WNBA, Quarles Daniels has not signed a contract or played professional basketball.
So, on Friday, Aug. 28, South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley announced that Quarles Daniels will join the Gamecocks for the 2026-27 season. The situation greatly benefited South Carolina, after former guard Maddy McDaniel announced her withdrawal from the program on Aug. 7 to focus on mental health and opened a scholarship spot on the Gamecocks’ roster.
Quarles Daniels fills that hole with a veteran guard presence as a top-notch defender and scrappy rebounder, named to the Big Ten All-Defensive Team in her senior year while averaging 5.4 rebounds per game — including 3.0 on the offensive glass.
Now, rather than elevating the Wolverines to a historic Final Four — following a program-best Elite Eight in 2025-26 — Quarles Daniels now will be standing directly in her former team’s way as the favorite for a National Championship.
In her first game at Michigan, the Wolverines fell, 68-62, to the Gamecocks, as Quarles Daniels played just seven minutes with 1 rebound to show for it. It’s safe to say Quarles Daniels would have a bigger influence on the outcome, if the two squads face off again.
The timing of the ruling likely influenced Quarles Daniels’ landing spot as well. If it had come back in April, prior to the Wolverines’ transfer additions of Australian guard Dallas Loughridge and Stanford transfer forward Courtney Ogden, Quarles Daniels could be back in Maize and Blue for a third season, a strong contender for the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year crown and leading what became Michigan’s trademark press. That same press will be difficult to replicate without Quarles Daniels. Her teammates lovingly called Quarles Daniels’ defense “pesky,” “annoying,” “agitating,” with junior guard Syla Swords putting Quarles Daniels’ impact as a leader and defender simply on March 19: “She goes as we go.”
With Quarles Daniels now as a roadblock instead of a catalyst, Michigan’s pursuit of championships looks different. The Wolverines still have a competitive roster, poised for great success, even without Quarles Daniels. While the Gamecocks were projected No. 1, Michigan still made waves as ESPN’s Way-Too-Early No.4 pick.
“Brooke’s wealth of experience will help us right away, as will her combination of skill and toughness,” Staley said. “She is a proven winner and a high-level competitor who will bring immediate value to our team.”
The stars aligned for Quarles Daniels to fall into South Carolina’s lap, with McDaniel’s departure and the oddly-timed ruling in the scope of the women’s basketball calendar making the Gamecocks one of the few incomplete rosters. By August 28, teams conclude their summer workouts and are gearing up for the start of classes, and generally have their rosters completely set by that point.
The Gamecocks tip off their preseason play on Sept. 27, two days before the Glancey v. NCAA hearing. It’s unclear if Quarles Daniels will be permitted to play for South Carolina after that initial preseason contest. If she is able to stay in Garnet and Black, though, facing her in March Madness could be an unfortunate outcome for her former teammates in Maize and Blue.
