C
Collyn Taylor
Guest
For the first time in well over a year, South Carolina hosted a prospect camp and welcomed over 20 teams onto campus for the first Frank Martin team camp of the year.
The Gamecocks had a handful of offered players and guys on their radar over the next three classes so let’s dive right into it.
Some of the big visitors on campus this weekend we’ve kept track of recently: 2022 guard Lewis Duarte, 2023 forward GG Jackson, 2023 wing Brandon Gardner, 2023 guard Khalil Peake, 2023 guard Jaylen Curry and 2024 Cam Scott.
There were a bunch of others but those are the guys who either stood out (to me at least) or had Gamecock interest entering the camp.
--This was Duarte’s second trip to campus in seven days with him taking an unofficial visit at the beginning of June, the first day visits were allowed. Chuck Martin is his lead recruiter and the Gamecocks had all three available coaches, including Frank Martin, on hand to watch him during the day. Duarte, who plays for a high school in the Charlotte area played with a different team, Moravian Prep, this weekend and seemed like he was still getting adjusted to playing with some of those guys. I’ll be interested to see him play more as the summer goes on and things get deeper into the AAU circuit.
--Jackson was one of the biggest standouts and looked every bit like a top 20 player he’s turning into in the 2023 class. He’s an explosive athlete who’s long and a really good basketball player. He runs the court well, especially in transition (which you get a lot of in AAU basketball) but showed some athleticism with a couple blocked shots and really nice dunks as well. The Gamecocks had an assistant or Frank Martin himself watching all of Jackson’s games Saturday.
--The other 2023 that already has a Gamecock offer is Gardner, who was also pretty good in his few games Saturday at Columbia. Gardner already took an unofficial visit to campus last week and was back on campus for team camp and had a few big dunks and athletic plays. Gardner’s been pretty receptive to South Carolina’s recruiting pitch and it’s at least an early encouraging sign he’s been on campus twice this month, once on his own doing. He’s a really good player who will command some national attention in the 2023 class.
--I’ve seen Cam Scott play a few times now and I’m continually impressed with how good he is for someone who just finished his freshman year in high school. He’s already long and has the body makeup to be a high-level college player. The Gamecocks’ staff watched him play multiple times Saturday and he’s someone to watch even though he’s still a ways away from graduating and South Carolina can’t reach out to him on their own (he has to reach out to them).
--From a team standpoint, offseason on-court work has begun with the team currently on campus and will continue as more guys continue to roll back into Columbia. Most of the team is back, but they’re still waiting on three newcomers to get back into the fold. Guard Erik Stevenson will get to town later this week, June 10, and freshman forward Ta’Quan Woodley will be in later this month on June 21.
--The Gamecocks have a staff opening now with Bruce Shingler leaving to go to Maryland and coach closer to home. The timeline for a hire seems like it will be made quickly with another camp this weekend and the evaluation/live period the two weekends after that and practice going on. I don’t have a full list of candidates, but it was mentioned to me Brian Steele might be a good fit. Steele, a former player under Martin, is the current video coordinator for the program but served as an assistant at Queens College in Charlotte.
--From a look-ahead perspective, the Gamecocks have a team camp again this weekend and the next two weekends (June 19-20, 25-27) are evaluation periods. July will have evaluation periods three weekends in the month before South Carolina has another camp the last weekend of the year.
The Gamecocks had a handful of offered players and guys on their radar over the next three classes so let’s dive right into it.
Some of the big visitors on campus this weekend we’ve kept track of recently: 2022 guard Lewis Duarte, 2023 forward GG Jackson, 2023 wing Brandon Gardner, 2023 guard Khalil Peake, 2023 guard Jaylen Curry and 2024 Cam Scott.
There were a bunch of others but those are the guys who either stood out (to me at least) or had Gamecock interest entering the camp.
--This was Duarte’s second trip to campus in seven days with him taking an unofficial visit at the beginning of June, the first day visits were allowed. Chuck Martin is his lead recruiter and the Gamecocks had all three available coaches, including Frank Martin, on hand to watch him during the day. Duarte, who plays for a high school in the Charlotte area played with a different team, Moravian Prep, this weekend and seemed like he was still getting adjusted to playing with some of those guys. I’ll be interested to see him play more as the summer goes on and things get deeper into the AAU circuit.
--Jackson was one of the biggest standouts and looked every bit like a top 20 player he’s turning into in the 2023 class. He’s an explosive athlete who’s long and a really good basketball player. He runs the court well, especially in transition (which you get a lot of in AAU basketball) but showed some athleticism with a couple blocked shots and really nice dunks as well. The Gamecocks had an assistant or Frank Martin himself watching all of Jackson’s games Saturday.
--The other 2023 that already has a Gamecock offer is Gardner, who was also pretty good in his few games Saturday at Columbia. Gardner already took an unofficial visit to campus last week and was back on campus for team camp and had a few big dunks and athletic plays. Gardner’s been pretty receptive to South Carolina’s recruiting pitch and it’s at least an early encouraging sign he’s been on campus twice this month, once on his own doing. He’s a really good player who will command some national attention in the 2023 class.
--I’ve seen Cam Scott play a few times now and I’m continually impressed with how good he is for someone who just finished his freshman year in high school. He’s already long and has the body makeup to be a high-level college player. The Gamecocks’ staff watched him play multiple times Saturday and he’s someone to watch even though he’s still a ways away from graduating and South Carolina can’t reach out to him on their own (he has to reach out to them).
--From a team standpoint, offseason on-court work has begun with the team currently on campus and will continue as more guys continue to roll back into Columbia. Most of the team is back, but they’re still waiting on three newcomers to get back into the fold. Guard Erik Stevenson will get to town later this week, June 10, and freshman forward Ta’Quan Woodley will be in later this month on June 21.
--The Gamecocks have a staff opening now with Bruce Shingler leaving to go to Maryland and coach closer to home. The timeline for a hire seems like it will be made quickly with another camp this weekend and the evaluation/live period the two weekends after that and practice going on. I don’t have a full list of candidates, but it was mentioned to me Brian Steele might be a good fit. Steele, a former player under Martin, is the current video coordinator for the program but served as an assistant at Queens College in Charlotte.
--From a look-ahead perspective, the Gamecocks have a team camp again this weekend and the next two weekends (June 19-20, 25-27) are evaluation periods. July will have evaluation periods three weekends in the month before South Carolina has another camp the last weekend of the year.
