C
Collyn Taylor
Guest
South Carolina's roster took a hit Wednesday night when GamecockCentral confirmed freshman forward Patrick Iriel opted to leave the team with the intent of withdrawing from South Carolina. It comes a little less than a month before the season, leading a lot of folks to think what the impact of him leaving could be this year.
I'll start by saying this about the situation: this does not appear to be basketball related, he's doing this for personal reasons and it was something that happened recently.
For starters, I legitimately thought Iriel was someone who could have made an impact this season—albeit probably small—just based on his size, strength and athleticism. I didn't necessarily see him as a starter this year with a few more experienced guys ahead of him (Alanzo Frink and Wildens Leveque, more specifically) but he could have been a role/rotational player this year with the ability to grow into a multi-year starter and a solid player over his career at South Carolina.
Frank Martin wasn't joking when he said Iriel was as "strong as an ox" and had made a few big plays in practice, and the coaching staff was high on his upside even before getting him on campus this summer.
As for how it affects South Carolina, in the short term it might affect them much, if at all. The depth on the entire team, including the front court, makes it so the Gamecocks won't be as impacted as they would have been even last year or the year before. The Gamecocks have three big men returning that played at least eight minutes per game in SEC play last year in Frink (12.4), Jalyn McCreary (10.3) and Leveque (8.8) and bringing in freshman Ja'Von Benson.
Frink and Leveque are more centers, which is what Iriel projected as, and were probably going to be the two guys who shouldered the bulk of those minutes this season given their levels of experience paired with their ability as well.
Frink and Leveque are battling for that starting center spot and whichever one isn't starting opening night would still be very much in line for big minutes. That doesn't leave as many minutes for Iriel, although he could have chiseled some out.
The Gamecocks also have a lot of players who can play the four as well with McCreary, Justin Minaya, Keyshawn Bryant and Benson who can play the four as well and can mix and match a lot of different lineups with different strengths (size, speed, length, defense, shooting, etc.).
That's a long way of saying because the Gamecocks have depth and veteran players in the front court they should be able to find a way to make up for Iriel's departure.
Where it could impact things is long term, but even then there are ways around it. Because every player this year is getting another year of eligibility, the Gamecocks still have Alanzo Frink for three more season (including this one) and Leveque for four.
The Gamecocks still would like to have more depth in the front court probably moving forward, which means it becomes a little more imperative to add a big man in the 2021 recruiting class. Obviously Jalen DeLoach is announcing his commitment this weekend, although I'd say the Gamecocks are in a better position right now with Jonas Aidoo, who's cutting his list to 10 this weekend.
Because of Iriel's departure, and if he doesn't return, it means the Gamecocks are at 14 scholarships for next season (depending on how the NCAA decides to do scholarships given the COVID situation). That would mean, in a normal year, needing one other departure—whether a player goes pro or transfers—to fit in the current three-man class of Devin Carter, Jacobi Wright and Carlous Williams.
I'll start by saying this about the situation: this does not appear to be basketball related, he's doing this for personal reasons and it was something that happened recently.
For starters, I legitimately thought Iriel was someone who could have made an impact this season—albeit probably small—just based on his size, strength and athleticism. I didn't necessarily see him as a starter this year with a few more experienced guys ahead of him (Alanzo Frink and Wildens Leveque, more specifically) but he could have been a role/rotational player this year with the ability to grow into a multi-year starter and a solid player over his career at South Carolina.
Frank Martin wasn't joking when he said Iriel was as "strong as an ox" and had made a few big plays in practice, and the coaching staff was high on his upside even before getting him on campus this summer.
As for how it affects South Carolina, in the short term it might affect them much, if at all. The depth on the entire team, including the front court, makes it so the Gamecocks won't be as impacted as they would have been even last year or the year before. The Gamecocks have three big men returning that played at least eight minutes per game in SEC play last year in Frink (12.4), Jalyn McCreary (10.3) and Leveque (8.8) and bringing in freshman Ja'Von Benson.
Frink and Leveque are more centers, which is what Iriel projected as, and were probably going to be the two guys who shouldered the bulk of those minutes this season given their levels of experience paired with their ability as well.
Frink and Leveque are battling for that starting center spot and whichever one isn't starting opening night would still be very much in line for big minutes. That doesn't leave as many minutes for Iriel, although he could have chiseled some out.
The Gamecocks also have a lot of players who can play the four as well with McCreary, Justin Minaya, Keyshawn Bryant and Benson who can play the four as well and can mix and match a lot of different lineups with different strengths (size, speed, length, defense, shooting, etc.).
That's a long way of saying because the Gamecocks have depth and veteran players in the front court they should be able to find a way to make up for Iriel's departure.
Where it could impact things is long term, but even then there are ways around it. Because every player this year is getting another year of eligibility, the Gamecocks still have Alanzo Frink for three more season (including this one) and Leveque for four.
The Gamecocks still would like to have more depth in the front court probably moving forward, which means it becomes a little more imperative to add a big man in the 2021 recruiting class. Obviously Jalen DeLoach is announcing his commitment this weekend, although I'd say the Gamecocks are in a better position right now with Jonas Aidoo, who's cutting his list to 10 this weekend.
Because of Iriel's departure, and if he doesn't return, it means the Gamecocks are at 14 scholarships for next season (depending on how the NCAA decides to do scholarships given the COVID situation). That would mean, in a normal year, needing one other departure—whether a player goes pro or transfers—to fit in the current three-man class of Devin Carter, Jacobi Wright and Carlous Williams.
