Where South Carolina sits in transfer portal team recruiting rankings
South Carolina basketball took a hit on Wednesday when transfer portal commitment Treysen Eaglestaff backed off of his pledge to the Gamecocks. The 6-6 scoring wing from North Dakota was one of five portal commitments for USC and was the highest-rated. Now that commitment list is down to four as guards Meechie Johnson (Ohio State) and Kobe Knox (USF) and post players Elijah Strong (Boston College) and Christ Essandoko (Providence) remain in the class.
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According to On3’s team transfer portal rankings, South Carolina owns the No. 35 class in the country. On3’s rankings account for both transfers in and transfers out of a program. That means the Gamecocks’ eight outgoing players (including guard Jamarii Thomas, a player completely out of eligibility) are weighing down the team’s place in the rankings.
Carolina is also tied for 28th nationally in average incoming player rating among teams with multiple transfer additions.
All four additions have earned a 4-star transfer rating in the On3 industry ranking at some point this offseason. Strong, Essandoko, and Knox remain 4-star transfer prospects, while Johnson is now a 3-star. When considering other major outlets, the four transfers all still have at least one 4-star rating next to their names.
The On3 team transfer portal rankings are, first, a metric of a team’s potential improvement. It is not a one-to-one comparison against other programs, though, a ranking naturally flows from that.
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Despite the decent numbers, South Carolina will need to do much more in the transfer portal before the 2025-2026 season. As things stand today, the Gamecocks have just 10 players on the potential roster. Of those 10, just one (Knox) started at least 20 games last season.
USC will need to add several impact pieces to return to competitiveness. Other than shooting guard (where Carolina appears to have multiple legitimate contributors), no other position on the roster seems particularly settled.
The transfer portal closes next week, but players already in the portal can commit to new programs as late as they like. Last year, the Gamecocks took their final transfer commitment on May 5th.
