The legacy of former Gamecock point guard Tyasha Harris continues to grow as she has been named the 2019-20 Roy F. Kramer SEC Female Athlete of the Year.
LSU's Joe Burrow was named the SEC Male Athlete of the Year for 2019-20.
A First-Team All-SEC selection, consensus All-American and winner of The Dawn Staley Award, Harris elevated her game in her senior season with a career-high 12.0 points per game average to go with her SEC-best 5.7 assist average, which ranked 12th in the nation. The quarterback of the offense was 10th in the nation with a 2.78 assist-to-turnover ratio as well.
"Ty winning SEC Female Athlete of the Year is the result of her hard work and commitment to excellence both on and off the court," South Carolina Head Coach Dawn Staley said in a statement.
"Throughout her career, she has led by example, and it was exemplified when our season ended abruptly due to COVID-19. Ty is a class act who has left an indelible mark on our program."
Harris has been a part of the 2017 NCAA National Championship, two SEC Regular-Season Championships (2017, 2020) and three SEC Tournament titles (2017, 2018, 2020). The Gamecocks won 84.3 percent (118-22) of the games she played, including 85.9 percent (55-9) of regular-season SEC games. In 55 career games against ranked opponents, she led her team to a 38-17 mark (.691).
"It is a great honor to be recognized with this award when there were so many others who could have won it as well," Harris said in a statement.
"I am beyond happy for this award not just because of all the time and hard work I put in, but because it's also a product of the love and support from my teammates and coaches. They continuously pushed me to get better and better every day."
Harris was recently the seventh overall pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft by the Dallas Wings. She is the first Gamecock to record 700 assists, finishing with 702 to rank 10th all-time in the SEC. Harris also holds the school record for career assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.55, and she is tied for the program record with 139 games played. In addition to her 11 double-doubles, the most points-assists double-doubles in program history, she ranks among the program's top 10 in seven other career categories – free throw percentage (. 792, 2nd), minutes played (4,168, 2nd), games started (127, 2nd), assists per game (5.1, 3rd), steals (224, 8th), made 3s (135, 9th), 3-point field goal percentage (.328, 10th) and minutes per game (30.0, 10th).
Harris is the fourth Gamecock all-time to earn SEC Athlete of the Year honors following A'ja Wilson in 2018 and a pair of pitchers representing baseball and softball - Kip Bouknight in 2000 and Trinity Johnson in 1997.
