Good evening everyone! The countdown is on for the college basketball season, and as we get closer and closer to the start of the season, it’s time for some too early preseason hoops thoughts. We won’t get into our schedule quite yet as we wait for more information to come out on our opponents, but we’ll definitely cover a variety of topics including who I’m keeping a close eye on, who I think will start, what went wrong last year, and what has to happen for us to get back on track.
Obviously and understandably, expectations are down among many Gamecock fans after an extremely frustrating 2020-21 season, but basketball is my favorite sport, so I’m gonna be excited no matter what.
Before we jump in, I am being accompanied by Noah Gundersen tonight as my background music. He has a new album coming out October 8, and no one can convince me that his album “Ledges” is anything short of a masterpiece.
Here’s the first single off his new album, “Pillar of Salt.”
I’m also running on fumes, so pardon any autocorrections, typos, ADD issues from me being scatterbrained and tired!
Time to get down to business.
The 2020-21 Nightmare
Frank has talked about it for the last couple months, but Covid wrecked this team. It shut down the entire team to the point where they could not leave their rooms without being suspended from school. It got Frank twice, and the second time was a knockout punch for him. It also wrecked Associate Head Coach Chuck Martin simultaneously. Frank has admitted that if he didn’t want to coach he felt so bad, but he knew he had a responsibility. He just wasn’t the same guy we’d seen over the last 8 seasons. It affected the team big time. 6 wins was completely unexpected for a team that many thought would be fighting for a ticket to the NCAA tournament.
This team will not be remembered for being competitive against Houston, LSU (what a freaking screw job), or Alabama. Fans won’t remember that they once again beat Florida. They won’t think about the massive win streak continuing against Georgia. They will think only of the record, and when they look at that record, they will think it is indicative of a team that was outclassed and not competitive. That wasn’t entirely the case for parts of the season.
When I think of this season, I will think of how the team never found it’s identity and mostly just largely lost their way as the wins piled on. That’s on the coaching, but it’s also hard for me to say that coaching wasn’t rocked by illness. After a roller coaster offseason playing is he or isn’t he, Frank Martin is still the man leading this program. So how do we escape the nightmare?
Time to Wake Up
So what do the Gamecocks have to do to get out of the cellar? It’s pretty simple in my eyes. They have to be able to do the things they can control well. Those things are rebounding, defense, effort, and play with a higher IQ. Winning games can take place statistically when you are a good rebounding team, great defensive team, limit turnovers, and don’t foul excessively. Many people will say, oh we have to hit threes. Well, sure… that would help, but you can’t control when the ball goes in the basket. There will be nights when the shots don’t fall, and quite frankly, you don’t have to be an amazing talent to play with high effort, rebound, dive for loose balls, play smart, or play good defense. This team missed those characteristics over the past couple seasons. If they can’t find an identity in defense and rebounding, and if they can’t cut down in the ridiculous abundance of fouling, we’ll have a new man in charge next season.
Questions on The Roster
Plenty of question marks surround this team heading into the season. Many are wondering how Frank Martin can turn things around in the midst of an apathetic fan base and a perceived lack of talent. It’s a valid concern so let’s dive in to what we do know about this team.
We know we have 3 experienced Frank Martin players returning (Couisnard, Bryant, and Leveque). We know that Couisnard has been inconsistent but when he’s been good, he’s been pretty dang good (see 2019-20 Kentucky game)
Bryant took a step forward last season putting up his best performances in garnet and black. Leveque is the experienced big man that you hope can finally put it all together.
Also returning are Tre-Vaughn Minott and Ja’Von Benson. Minott looked unexpectedly good at times last season despite showing up halfway through the season with no college conditioning. Benson came in with the expectation that he would need to develop for a couple years. He won’t be expected to play too much this season, but Minott and Leveque should see a lot of minutes bringing some rim protection and rebounding to the Gamecocks front court.
The transfers provide some interesting possibilities and a couple key pieces. The most hype is currently surrounding James Reese as he is giving Bryant a run for the starting wing spot. He’s a 33.5% career 3 point shooter, and the lone Gamecock in the NCAA tournament last year. Reese has also become a solid defender averaging 1.5 steals per game. Statistically, he would have been the second best defender on last years team behind McCreary. Reese provides great athleticism and a shooters touch to a roster that loses its best three point shooter in Lawson.
Perhaps the biggest need that had to be met on the roster was finding a PG. The staff eventually swapped Hannibal for Chico Carter Jr who played some at PG at Murray State. It was a somewhat perplexing roster move because of the need, but the feedback has been positive. Carter comes in with a knack for making threes shooting 42.8% over his first two collegiate seasons. He will definitely need to prove himself defensively, but the offensive production could be enough to make up for it for once.
Erik Stevenson was another perplexing move for me until I looked into it more. This is Stevenson third collegiate stop after stints at Wichita State and Washington last season. Gamecock fans may remember him as he torched the Gamecocks back in 2019 scoring 19 points and grabbing 8 boards to lead Wichita State to an easy win. The Gamecocks wanted him when he left Wichita State, but Stevenson wanted to go home which lead him to what he thought would be a great opportunity at Washington. That would ultimately prove to be untrue as Stevenson publicly commented about feeling mislead in what style of basketball Washington would play and how he wasn’t happy there. Stevenson is a Frank Martin type of player— a guy that plays hard-nosed, tough defense. Stevenson talked about his desire to play man-to-man defense and play ball the right way and how that ultimately led him here. He will be counted on to shore up a perimeter defense that has struggled the last couple seasons. His biggest question mark is offensively however. He is known as a shooter who has never shown he can consistently make shots. He’ll have his opportunity to show he can this season.
Josh Gray is a big man who transferred from LSU. He didn’t see the court much due to the crazy talent LSU had in the post but the 7’ big man should find some playing time thanks to his athleticism and size. He’s still raw offensively, but his arrival addresses the issues the team had with physicality and size at the rim.
AJ Wilson rounds out the transfers and will be counted on for his defensive prowess. The Gamecocks have lacked physicality and athleticism around the rim, and Wilson is a guy that brings just that. He’s a tremendous defensive player and a shot blocker despite his 6’7 height. His offensive game has been raw and a tough season last year did not prove that he can be a consistent offensive player. We’ll see if a real off-season can alleviate those fears. The former A-10 Defensive Player of the Year averaged just 7.8 points, 5 rpg, and 2.3 bpg, down from his junior year (12.3 ppg, 7.8 rpg, and 2.9 bpg). He’ll look to finish strong in the brutal SEC.
The last piece are the incoming recruits. Devin Carter highlights this group. The common word used to describe him is explosive. He is a kid that shows an incredible amount of confidence in himself, and with NBA bloodlines, why wouldn’t he? Carter will be counted on to score from all three levels and provide points off the bench this season. Jacobi Wright is another highly rated player that the staff was able to get in the food. Wright will have a chance to play a lot of minutes at PG and the hope is that he can solidify the position for the Gamecocks. He was a highly efficient high school guard who looked to get his teammates involved, but was able to score at all three levels without wasting possessions. Finally, Taiwan Woodley is a Camden, NJ native who found his way to the Bamecock commit list after backing off a pledge to Penn State. His late arrival and deep bench will probably affect his playing time as he needs to continue to put in work in the weight room, but he’s a kid that has overcome a lot in his life and brings a toughness and team first mentality that the Gamecocks need. He is also a solid player in the post. He has good passing ability and vision for a big man.
Too Soon Starting 5 and Who I’m Excited to
Let’s get this straight… the starting 5 isn’t set in stone. There is a fall practice for that, and from what I’ve gathered, there is some competition heading into the fall. The ultimate goal is to keep Couisnard at the 2 guard which means the PG battle between Chico Carter Jr and Jacobi Wright will take place. Stevenson and Couisnard could play there if we have to go that route. As I stated earlier, there is a battle at SF between Bryant and Reese.
Projecting the starting lineup as of today would look like this
Chico Carter Jr
Jermaine Couisnard
Keyshawn Bryant (I’m going with experience here)
AJ Wilson
Wildens Leveque
There are so many storylines and question marks heading into the season, but three things are really standing out to me in terms of who I am following most closely. First, James Reeese. He’s a guy who’s name just continues to pop up. He’ll be counted on heavily this season for leadership and production. His athleticism has been noted as he has blocked shots in practice and has shown he can find ways to score. I’m ready to see the hype.
Couisnard is another guy I’m really paying attention to. He’s coming off a unbelievably bad sophomore campaign and will have a lot to prove. Can he finally be the scorer we need? Will he consistently find his shot? Will his defense pick up?
Finally, Chico Carter Jr is at the biggest position of need. His scoring ability and just the threat of him shooting could create some great opportunities for guys like Bryant to find more space to get into the lane. However, will a guy that hasn’t played PG at a mid-major be able to fill the void in the SEC?
Final Notes
I anticipate a lot of players getting minutes
Carter Jr
Wright
Couisnard
Stevenson
Devin Carter
Bryant
Reese
Wilson
Leveque
Minott
Gray
11 players that will try to find a way to turn things around with 2 on the bench that might just find some time as well. I think we will see Bryant play that Thornwell/Carerra/Minaya role some this season to get him and Reese on the floor at the same time.
Finally, there is a renewed energy around the program. Steele has brought some energy and the staff is making a concerted effort to be more vocal about how much they love it here. They are doing their best to promote the program. The program has not gotten great support from the athletics department, but that is finally beginning to change. Hopefully, it’s not too late. Thanks for reading, y’all. We’ll deep dive into the schedule within the next few weeks! Stay tuned.
Obviously and understandably, expectations are down among many Gamecock fans after an extremely frustrating 2020-21 season, but basketball is my favorite sport, so I’m gonna be excited no matter what.
Before we jump in, I am being accompanied by Noah Gundersen tonight as my background music. He has a new album coming out October 8, and no one can convince me that his album “Ledges” is anything short of a masterpiece.
Here’s the first single off his new album, “Pillar of Salt.”
I’m also running on fumes, so pardon any autocorrections, typos, ADD issues from me being scatterbrained and tired!
Time to get down to business.
The 2020-21 Nightmare
Frank has talked about it for the last couple months, but Covid wrecked this team. It shut down the entire team to the point where they could not leave their rooms without being suspended from school. It got Frank twice, and the second time was a knockout punch for him. It also wrecked Associate Head Coach Chuck Martin simultaneously. Frank has admitted that if he didn’t want to coach he felt so bad, but he knew he had a responsibility. He just wasn’t the same guy we’d seen over the last 8 seasons. It affected the team big time. 6 wins was completely unexpected for a team that many thought would be fighting for a ticket to the NCAA tournament.
This team will not be remembered for being competitive against Houston, LSU (what a freaking screw job), or Alabama. Fans won’t remember that they once again beat Florida. They won’t think about the massive win streak continuing against Georgia. They will think only of the record, and when they look at that record, they will think it is indicative of a team that was outclassed and not competitive. That wasn’t entirely the case for parts of the season.
When I think of this season, I will think of how the team never found it’s identity and mostly just largely lost their way as the wins piled on. That’s on the coaching, but it’s also hard for me to say that coaching wasn’t rocked by illness. After a roller coaster offseason playing is he or isn’t he, Frank Martin is still the man leading this program. So how do we escape the nightmare?
Time to Wake Up
So what do the Gamecocks have to do to get out of the cellar? It’s pretty simple in my eyes. They have to be able to do the things they can control well. Those things are rebounding, defense, effort, and play with a higher IQ. Winning games can take place statistically when you are a good rebounding team, great defensive team, limit turnovers, and don’t foul excessively. Many people will say, oh we have to hit threes. Well, sure… that would help, but you can’t control when the ball goes in the basket. There will be nights when the shots don’t fall, and quite frankly, you don’t have to be an amazing talent to play with high effort, rebound, dive for loose balls, play smart, or play good defense. This team missed those characteristics over the past couple seasons. If they can’t find an identity in defense and rebounding, and if they can’t cut down in the ridiculous abundance of fouling, we’ll have a new man in charge next season.
Questions on The Roster
Plenty of question marks surround this team heading into the season. Many are wondering how Frank Martin can turn things around in the midst of an apathetic fan base and a perceived lack of talent. It’s a valid concern so let’s dive in to what we do know about this team.
We know we have 3 experienced Frank Martin players returning (Couisnard, Bryant, and Leveque). We know that Couisnard has been inconsistent but when he’s been good, he’s been pretty dang good (see 2019-20 Kentucky game)
Bryant took a step forward last season putting up his best performances in garnet and black. Leveque is the experienced big man that you hope can finally put it all together.
Also returning are Tre-Vaughn Minott and Ja’Von Benson. Minott looked unexpectedly good at times last season despite showing up halfway through the season with no college conditioning. Benson came in with the expectation that he would need to develop for a couple years. He won’t be expected to play too much this season, but Minott and Leveque should see a lot of minutes bringing some rim protection and rebounding to the Gamecocks front court.
The transfers provide some interesting possibilities and a couple key pieces. The most hype is currently surrounding James Reese as he is giving Bryant a run for the starting wing spot. He’s a 33.5% career 3 point shooter, and the lone Gamecock in the NCAA tournament last year. Reese has also become a solid defender averaging 1.5 steals per game. Statistically, he would have been the second best defender on last years team behind McCreary. Reese provides great athleticism and a shooters touch to a roster that loses its best three point shooter in Lawson.
Perhaps the biggest need that had to be met on the roster was finding a PG. The staff eventually swapped Hannibal for Chico Carter Jr who played some at PG at Murray State. It was a somewhat perplexing roster move because of the need, but the feedback has been positive. Carter comes in with a knack for making threes shooting 42.8% over his first two collegiate seasons. He will definitely need to prove himself defensively, but the offensive production could be enough to make up for it for once.
Erik Stevenson was another perplexing move for me until I looked into it more. This is Stevenson third collegiate stop after stints at Wichita State and Washington last season. Gamecock fans may remember him as he torched the Gamecocks back in 2019 scoring 19 points and grabbing 8 boards to lead Wichita State to an easy win. The Gamecocks wanted him when he left Wichita State, but Stevenson wanted to go home which lead him to what he thought would be a great opportunity at Washington. That would ultimately prove to be untrue as Stevenson publicly commented about feeling mislead in what style of basketball Washington would play and how he wasn’t happy there. Stevenson is a Frank Martin type of player— a guy that plays hard-nosed, tough defense. Stevenson talked about his desire to play man-to-man defense and play ball the right way and how that ultimately led him here. He will be counted on to shore up a perimeter defense that has struggled the last couple seasons. His biggest question mark is offensively however. He is known as a shooter who has never shown he can consistently make shots. He’ll have his opportunity to show he can this season.
Josh Gray is a big man who transferred from LSU. He didn’t see the court much due to the crazy talent LSU had in the post but the 7’ big man should find some playing time thanks to his athleticism and size. He’s still raw offensively, but his arrival addresses the issues the team had with physicality and size at the rim.
AJ Wilson rounds out the transfers and will be counted on for his defensive prowess. The Gamecocks have lacked physicality and athleticism around the rim, and Wilson is a guy that brings just that. He’s a tremendous defensive player and a shot blocker despite his 6’7 height. His offensive game has been raw and a tough season last year did not prove that he can be a consistent offensive player. We’ll see if a real off-season can alleviate those fears. The former A-10 Defensive Player of the Year averaged just 7.8 points, 5 rpg, and 2.3 bpg, down from his junior year (12.3 ppg, 7.8 rpg, and 2.9 bpg). He’ll look to finish strong in the brutal SEC.
The last piece are the incoming recruits. Devin Carter highlights this group. The common word used to describe him is explosive. He is a kid that shows an incredible amount of confidence in himself, and with NBA bloodlines, why wouldn’t he? Carter will be counted on to score from all three levels and provide points off the bench this season. Jacobi Wright is another highly rated player that the staff was able to get in the food. Wright will have a chance to play a lot of minutes at PG and the hope is that he can solidify the position for the Gamecocks. He was a highly efficient high school guard who looked to get his teammates involved, but was able to score at all three levels without wasting possessions. Finally, Taiwan Woodley is a Camden, NJ native who found his way to the Bamecock commit list after backing off a pledge to Penn State. His late arrival and deep bench will probably affect his playing time as he needs to continue to put in work in the weight room, but he’s a kid that has overcome a lot in his life and brings a toughness and team first mentality that the Gamecocks need. He is also a solid player in the post. He has good passing ability and vision for a big man.
Too Soon Starting 5 and Who I’m Excited to
Let’s get this straight… the starting 5 isn’t set in stone. There is a fall practice for that, and from what I’ve gathered, there is some competition heading into the fall. The ultimate goal is to keep Couisnard at the 2 guard which means the PG battle between Chico Carter Jr and Jacobi Wright will take place. Stevenson and Couisnard could play there if we have to go that route. As I stated earlier, there is a battle at SF between Bryant and Reese.
Projecting the starting lineup as of today would look like this
Chico Carter Jr
Jermaine Couisnard
Keyshawn Bryant (I’m going with experience here)
AJ Wilson
Wildens Leveque
There are so many storylines and question marks heading into the season, but three things are really standing out to me in terms of who I am following most closely. First, James Reeese. He’s a guy who’s name just continues to pop up. He’ll be counted on heavily this season for leadership and production. His athleticism has been noted as he has blocked shots in practice and has shown he can find ways to score. I’m ready to see the hype.
Couisnard is another guy I’m really paying attention to. He’s coming off a unbelievably bad sophomore campaign and will have a lot to prove. Can he finally be the scorer we need? Will he consistently find his shot? Will his defense pick up?
Finally, Chico Carter Jr is at the biggest position of need. His scoring ability and just the threat of him shooting could create some great opportunities for guys like Bryant to find more space to get into the lane. However, will a guy that hasn’t played PG at a mid-major be able to fill the void in the SEC?
Final Notes
I anticipate a lot of players getting minutes
Carter Jr
Wright
Couisnard
Stevenson
Devin Carter
Bryant
Reese
Wilson
Leveque
Minott
Gray
11 players that will try to find a way to turn things around with 2 on the bench that might just find some time as well. I think we will see Bryant play that Thornwell/Carerra/Minaya role some this season to get him and Reese on the floor at the same time.
Finally, there is a renewed energy around the program. Steele has brought some energy and the staff is making a concerted effort to be more vocal about how much they love it here. They are doing their best to promote the program. The program has not gotten great support from the athletics department, but that is finally beginning to change. Hopefully, it’s not too late. Thanks for reading, y’all. We’ll deep dive into the schedule within the next few weeks! Stay tuned.
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