Latest team notes from South Carolina basketball
South Carolina men’s basketball is through the teeth of its recruiting push and now focusing almost solely on the current iteration of this Gamecocks team.
Summer workouts are still ongoing with a looming trip to the Bahamas coming up in a few weeks. Before that, here’s the latest around the team and workouts.
–One name that has come up in recent conversations has been forward Stephen Clark, who’s made a positive impression during his short time on campus.
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Clark’s high school coach mentioned to GamecockCentral that when Clark committed he’s an underrated athlete and that’s come across during in summer workouts with the team. He’s moved around well and has been considered a quality rim protector. He was an excellent rim-protector during his time at The Citadel–especially for his size–and it looks like that’s translated so far over the summer.
Multiple people have brought him up as someone who’s stood out early in the process. The Gamecocks have many answers to figure out in the frontcourt after struggling mightly there in 2022-23.
South Carolina ranked 12th in SEC play with 12 percent of shots getting blocked and 13th in the league blocking just 6.4 percent of opponents’ shots. The Gamecocks shot just 56.6 percent on close two-pointers.
Clark had a 6.2 block rate last season and shot 62.7 percent at the rim. Against top 100 opponents, he had a 6.9 block rate and shot 46.3 percent from two. South Carolina, based on what its seen, is hopefully going to help on the rebounding side of things and defensively.
South Carolina is going to need him to continue improving so he can really help this team next year in the frontcourt.
–Another name that continues to come up is freshman Collin Murray-Boyles, the team’s highest-rated freshman coming in this offseason. He looked really good at the start of the summer and had been spotted in a walking boot in a couple photos. It’s nothing serious and there’s no doubt he’ll be ready for the season. He was spotted practicing in a recent social media post put out by the team.
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Like Clark, he’ll play in the frontcourt needing to be better than last season. The Gamecocks like his skill and athleticism and think he’ll be able to make an impact as a freshman. He has the chance to get minutes at anywhere from the three to the five depending on how South Carolina wants to play. It seems more likely he’ll focus on the four or five spots.
–A quick update on freshman Morris Ugusuk, who is still in Finland waiting to get his paperwork approved to head over to the United States. There is no steadfast arrival date and it’s a current work in progress. But the Gamecocks are hopeful he’ll be in by the beginning of August. That could shift and change, though.
He’s expected to redshirt this year anyway, so this is not like the Gamecocks waiting to get a key contributor this year on campus in August as the semester is about to begin.
–A few big picture talks from conversations I’ve had, but the staff is very pleased with the maturity of the group and the offensive ability so far. Two of the big key priorities for the Gamecocks in the transfer portal were getting older and shooting. South Carolina definitely got older–Clark, BJ Mack and Ta’Lon Cooper–are all in their final years of eligibility and Myles Stute is in his fourth year of school.
Last season the program ranked No. 269 nationally in average Division I experience and that should be higher this season. There is also a chance and a feeling this group can be better offensively than what last year’s team was.
It’s a relatively low bar with South Carolina ranking No. 205 nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency (103.5) and last in SEC play at 96.5.
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–On the non-conference schedule, it is near completion. There are only a few more hurdles to clear before being able to ultimately put it out. As a reminder, the Gamecocks head to the Bahamas the first weekend in August for a few games abroad.
What we know on the schedule right now:
Nov. 6 vs. USC Upstate
Nov. 10 vs. Virginia Tech (Charlotte)
Nov. 13 vs. VMI
Nov. 17 vs. DePaul (Phoenix MTE)
Nov. 19 vs. San Fransisco/Grand Canyon (Phoenix MTE)
Nov. 28 vs. Notre Dame
Dec. 6 at Clemson
Dec. 9 at East Carolina
TBD vs. George Washington
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