Inside the commitment: Ta’Lon Cooper
South Carolina landed its first portal commitment of the cycle Wednesday afternoon, picking up Minnesota’s Ta’Lon Cooper to come in and help the Gamecocks at point guard in Lamont Paris’ second season.
The Gamecocks did it beating out a late push from a handful of teams coming off tournament runs with Kansas State, Virginia and Arkansas all showing interest in the pass-first point guard who was top 10 in the country in assists per game and was No. 13 nationally in assist rate.
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Cooper–who played his high school basketball at Dorman–was third in big 10 play in assist rate as well. Cooper was part of the Upward Stars grassroots program coming out of high school, the same one that the two high school signees–Arden Conyers and Collin Murray-Boyles–played for the last few years.
It’s certainly a big get for Paris and South Carolina, landing a priority target since the minute he entered the portal.
Cooper entered the portal last week and immediately skyrocketed to the top of South Carolina’s list and there was immense interest from Cooper.
South Carolina brought him on campus for an official and it went really well with Cooper committing soon after.
The Gamecocks withstood pushes from the Wildcats, Razorbacks and Cavaliers with Rutgers and a few others showing interest late in the process, too.
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South Carolina sold him on playing point guard in the SEC and playing in his home state and being the engine that helps the offense tick.
It obviously allows some flexibility in the lineup moving Meechie Johnson to an off-ball role and blossom in a shooting, score-first role while handling the ball some also. Ebrima Dibba will also be back in the fold as well can handle the ball as well.
Pair that with Jacobi Wright and Zachary Davis and South Carolina feels pretty confident about its guards going into next season. South Carolina is still showing some interest in guards out of the portal too.
The Gamecocks were in need of a pass-first point guard and Cooper brings that to the table. There is a feeling internally, one source said, that this would be a big time get for South Carolina.
Not only does he fill a major need, but it fits with what the Gamecocks were looking for out of the portal. South Carolina is looking for experienced guys who’ve played a good amount of basketball with results to match it.
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Cooper does, though, need to continue to get better as a shooter. He was a good three-point shooter for the most part (37.8 percent last year) but only shot 40.5 percent from two and 61.4 percent from the line.
His turnover rate was also relatively high while being a high-usage guy. Cooper doesn’t foul a ton, just 2.3 fouls committed per 40 minutes.
South Carolina is also hoping this turns into a building block for the class. One source said getting a guy like Cooper who can be a pass-first point guard should help attract other guys who want to play with that.
The Gamecocks are hoping landing Cooper helps them with a few other prospects they’re showing interest in this offseason.
As it stands now, South Carolina has four scholarships to use for next season.
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