Lamont Paris sheds more light on Myles Stute's blood clot injury

South Carolina, who is currently in the midst of a two-game losing streak to start SEC play, will be without starting small forward Myles Stute for the foreseeable future.

Stute, a two-year starter for the Gamecocks, was diagnosed with a left lower leg deep vein thrombosis (blood clot) on Tuesday and will be out indefinitely. One day after the team’s 88-68 loss to No. 5 Alabama, head coach Lamont Paris provided some more context to the situation and what’s next from here.

“I think there was some sort of contact that happened on his calf. It was nothing even to where he needed to see the trainer or anything like that,” Paris said on ‘Carolina Calls’ with Derek Scott on the Gamecocks Sports Network. “And then so as we moved on, and obviously we made two flights — one to Starkville and one back from Starkville. In those situations, apparently that can kind of trigger if there’s any sign of something like that to happen.”

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In a recent conversation Stute was having with another player in the team training room, South Carolina’s trainer overheard them talking and suggested they should take a look at his potential injury. After undergoing an ultrasound, their worst fears were confirmed.

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a condition where a blood clot forms in a deep vein, usually in the legs or pelvis. It occurs suddenly or gradually and can lead to serious health complications.

Because of this, South Carolina is making sure it takes this process slowly and gives Stute the proper amount of time he needs to get back to feeling 100 percent. Though, right now, he won’t be back on the court anytime soon.

“You give him blood thinners and while you’re doing that you have to really minimize and be careful about any physical contact and activity that you’re doing,” Paris said. “But I think to some degree, it’s how his body responds to these blood thinners and then they go back in and take another look at it at some point. Sometimes that can take up to 90 days really without doing a whole lot. Again, it’ll be TBD. But he’s out indefinitely.”

In his second season with the program, Stute is averaging 5.4 points on 33.3 percent shooting from the field. Before the blood clot injury, he was playing 25 minutes per game, which is a lot of time the Gamecocks are going to have to account for.

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In his absence, South Carolina had to rely on others to play more in the Alabama game on Wednesday. Zachary Davis made the start in Stute’s place and scored 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting over 29 minutes.

Off the bench, Morris Ugusuk played 23 minutes but was kept scoreless. Arden Conyers, who had only played a combined 16 minutes in five games this season, saw 19 minutes of floor time against the Crimson Tide. The redshirt freshman guard went for two points on 1-of-6 shooting and 0-for-3 from behind the arc.

Paris expects Conyers to continue to see more action for the time being. But there’s no doubt losing Stute is a tough blow, especially with him in his final year of eligibility.

“He loves basketball. Some guys, they all like it to some degree or they wouldn’t be playing college basketball, but some guys just really love it and that’s him,” Paris said. “Sad for him that he is going to have to be out. He’s a part of what we do. He’s got a good voice in the practices and locker room. We’ll try to continue to help lift his spirits up.”

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