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Jamarii Thomas inching closer to a return for South Carolina

imageby:Jack Veltri•about 12 hours•

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Jamarii Thomas (Katie Dugan/GamecockCentral)

South Carolina has been sorely missing consistent guard play during its six-game losing streak to open SEC play. But the Gamecocks might be getting closer to having their starting point guard return to action.

After a 70-69 loss to No. 5 Florida on Wednesday, head coach Lamont Paris said there’s a chance Jamarii Thomas could return to game action as soon as this weekend. If he’s able to return for the next game, it would come on Saturday when South Carolina hosts No. 14 Mississippi State.

Thomas went down with a right knee sprain that he suffered in practice. The team then announced on Jan. 10 that the senior guard would be out for the next three to four weeks. But if he’s back to playing on Saturday, he’ll have only ended up missing four games.

“He worked out and did some things at shoot around today and at practice yesterday,” Paris said. “So yeah, there’s a chance. I don’t know, some of it will depend on how he’s responding tomorrow, what tomorrow looks like.”

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In Thomas’ absence, South Carolina has turned the ball over 65 times, a number that has proven costly in three of those losses coming by three points or less.

Thomas, in his first season with the program after transferring from Norfolk State, was averaging 12.3 points per game on 39.3 percent shooting. He’s not the only starter the Gamecocks have been missing, though. Myles Stute has been out since Jan. 7 with a blood clot in his lower left leg.

Paris said Thomas will be put through “some more things” on Thursday to see where he’s at from a readiness standpoint. It should consist of some higher volume activities, as the third-year head coach alluded to. But if there’s a positive response, the odds of him suiting up are in his favor.

“That’ll be the true test to see how does the knee respond,” Paris said. “Is there inflammation? Does he have pain? Then we’ll make a decision from there. But certainly there’s a chance.”

South Carolina will face No. 14 Mississippi State, who beat the Gamecocks by 35 points in Starkville to open SEC play, for a second time this season. Tip-off is at 1 p.m. on Saturday on SEC Network. 

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