Jermaine Couisnard shares feelings on facing his former team in NCAA Tournament

There may not be much in common between South Carolina and Oregon, who play in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. But they do share one interesting fact: that Ducks star Jermaine Couisnard has played for both schools.

The sixth-year senior and Chicago native has seen both oceans in his collegiate career, first starting at South Carolina, where he spent four whole seasons before deciding to transfer to Oregon. Of course, his journey between the two programs was a talking point ahead of the matchup and Couisnard was asked about his feelings facing his former team.

He shared nothing but positive reviews and is thrilled to see the Gamecocks finally thriving after some really lean years when he was there.

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“It was amazing for me, just seeing how far the program came and how the coach has done a good job with them guys over there,” said Couisnard. “It was something that we all wanted when we all was there. So it was like we all got what we wanted.”

Now, though, he’ll hope to send Carolina fans home unhappy. And if Oregon does win, Couisnard will likely be a huge factor given that he’s the Ducks’ leading scorer in total points and averages north of 15 per game.

Injury update on South Carolina’s Ta’Lon Cooper, Myles Stute

As Lamont Paris and South Carolina ready for their NCAA Tournament opener against Oregon, the Gamecocks are hoping two key players heal quickly from injuries that sidelined them at least temporarily during the SEC Tournament.

Myles Stute (hip pointer) and guard Ta’Lon Cooper (ankle) are both recovering from various knocks. The prognosis on both players is relatively positive, though, heading into Thursday’s matchup.

“I think there’s been good progress on behalf of each of those guys,”Paris said. “I think, Myles Stute? His injury was a little more significant in that he had to miss some game time. But he’s made some good progress. So I expect him to be available at some level.”

“We’ll see what that looks like in terms of what percentage of his usual self he is in terms of mobility, in terms of absorbing contact, and being able to continue to play the way that he needs to to be an effective piece for us,” Lamont Paris said.

Stute left their game against Arkansas and then missed the following contest against Auburn. That continued a streak of injuries that has limited him over the second half of the season. He is averaging 8.5 points and 3.1 rebounds per game, helping the team in the backcourt after transferring in from Vanderbilt this offseason.

Paris also provided an update on Cooper, whose injury doesn’t sound quite as serious.

“And then Ta’Lon was the same,” he said. “I think he’s at a pretty high percentage of full health and he’ll be ready to go.”