Live updates: South Carolina basketball vs. Mars Hill (Exhibition)

South Carolina’s season unofficially begins Wednesday night.

The Gamecocks will host Mars Hill in an exhibition starting at 7 p.m. at Colonial Life Arena.

GamecockCentral is here and providing live updates here.

Follow along with the game thread here.

“It’s exciting to see it come to fruition that it’s almost here. We’re playing games. It’s a lot of phone calls. You have no idea how many phone calls you make once the transfer portal starts and you get a job in an attempt to field a team. Literally, you have no idea,” Paris said.

“To be here, finally, on us with guys are coming out for warmups, we’re jumping a ball and playing in a game-like atmosphere. It’s really exciting. I’m excited not only for me to go through the gauntlet of what this league is like, but I’m really, really excited for these guys and to see them be able to achieve their goals and dreams.” 

Who: Mars Hill at South Carolina

When: Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. (Doors open at 6 p.m.)

TV/Radio: None/GamecocksOnline.com

Parking: Season Pass or pay upon entry

New faces

South Carolina saw its fair share of talent leave the team after moving on from Frank Martin, leaving nearly half the roster to be replaced. The Gamecocks have eight newcomers, four out of the transfer portal, with South Carolina going to rely on them heavily this season. 

The portal class is headlined by Ohio State transfer Meechie Johnson and Hayden Brown, who will be asked to do a lot as likely starters this season. Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk will also play a role as well. 

Injury bug

The Gamecocks have been banged up this year, losing likely starter Ebrima Dibba (Coastal Carolina transfer) for the season. He suffered an Achilles injury over the summer and will miss the entire season. It’s a big blow for South Carolina, which was expecting the 6-foot-6 facilitator to play a few roles in the backcourt. Dibba averaged 8.1 points and led the Sun Belt with 5.4 assists last season. 

Brown is also banged up with a lower-body injury. While his status for the exhibition is still unclear, Paris doesn’t seem worried about his long-term prognosis. 

“He should be available. Hayden’s Hayden and I’m Lamont Paris. I don’t know what that’s going to look like. I anticipate him coming back when he feels really healthy and I always air on the side of caution, myself. I’d rather have him back and back when hes’ ready to be back than back and there temporarily. We’re not going to rush him. But I do anticipate him being back at some point in the near future.”

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Freshman class, returners

South Carolina is going to rely heavily on its freshmen class of five-star freshman GG Jackson, guard Zach Davis and wing Daniel Hankins-Sanford. Jackson seems likelier to play the most minutes early but both Davis and Hankins-Sanford will impact the roster.

Jacobi Wright, Chico Carter, Josh Gray, Ja’Von Benson and Tre-Vaughn Minott all opted to return and will play roles. Wright, Carter and Gray seem the likelest to do so early. 

What to expect

This is a South Carolina team still expected to go through some growing pains. It’s projected at or near the bottom in the SEC for most preseason metrics with a roster of mostly newcomers. 

The Gamecocks don’t have a player on the roster who’s logged a minute in Paris’s system yet and has a focal point that won’t turn 18 until mid-December. 

Time will tell how this season plays out, and South Carolina can certainly outperform preseason expectations.

Wednesday’s exhibition will be about evaluating and testing out rotations and roles while learning a little bit more about the team.

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