South Carolina players open up on what this season meant

South Carolina wasn’t able to make a historic run this season, but the Gamecocks won’t be forgotten. After the team’s season-ending 87-73 loss to No. 11 seed Oregon in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, guard Ta’Lon Cooper revealed how he hopes his team is remembered.

“I feel like they’re going to think this was a winning group, change the program around from the year before,” Cooper said. “Just a great group of guys that just love to play with each other.”

He wasn’t alone in his hopes.

“Like Ta’Lon said, just a great group of guys, special group,” junior guard Meechie Johnson said. “Went into a lot of places, a lot of arenas, a lot of people throughout and did some good things this year. Obviously came up short, but just can’t take away what we did, the group of guys that was on this team, the fun we had.”

The backcourt duo did all they could to keep South Carolina’s postseason dreams alive. In the Gamecocks’ loss to Oregon, Cooper and Johnson combined for 39 points and 10 assists while shooting 7-12 from beyond the arc.

However, it was a former Gamecock who cut South Carolina’s season short. Oregon guard Jermaine Cousinard erupted for a career-high 40 points while shooting 14-22 from the floor. Cousinard spent the first three seasons of his collegiate career at South Carolina before transferring to Oregon ahead of the 2022-23 season.

While it was a painful way to go out, South Carolina gave fans a surplus of wonderful memories this season. Perhaps no memories top South Carolina’s six-game win streak in conference play, including triumphs over No. 6 Kentucky and No. 5 Tennessee.

The stunning run through conference play led to head coach Lamont Paris receiving a new six-year contract that pays $3.75 million this year and escalates by $250,000 each year of the contract.

This team won’t hoist any championship trophies or soak in any confetti, but they are certainly winners. They finished with a 26-8 record, tied for the most in a single season in program history. Paris couldn’t be prouder of the group.

“They’re such a high-quality group of human beings,” Paris said after the team’s loss. “It would be hard for me to overstate that. It’s how they interact with each other. They mesh together in an incredible way. That really is what made this group able to do what they did on the basketball court.

“Our guys were better than what people predicted they would be, but they also weren’t the best individual talents at every position that we had. But they were winners. They’re incredible, fierce — incredibly fierce competitors. They came together with one goal, and they did that in a way that each of their individual abilities shined.”