South Carolina 'far ahead from last year' thanks to returners, veteran experience
When South Carolina took the court for the first time last season under Lamont Paris, there was just one guy on the roster who had been a regular starter at the college level.
That was Hayden Brown. And he was in a sea of relatively inexperienced players asked to grow into either new or expanded roles with the Gamecocks. And none of them had ever played a minute inside a Paris system.
This year, when South Carolina opens its season against USC Upstate, there will be seven guys who’ve been regular starters at this level. And five guys who logged minutes last season in this structure.
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“I think we’re so far ahead from last year. We have four, five or six guys on the team from last year that can disseminate information from one to the next. They know what to expect, they know the terminology, they know the drills. From that alone we’re so far ahead,” Paris said.
“We had one guy on our team last year who had been a college basketball starter. That was Hayden Brown. We have seven this year. In those two categories alone–aside from skill set or length or anything like that–we’re significantly ahead of where we were a year ago.”
Typically during a coaching change, there are players who move over with the coach from his previous stop. But South Carolina didn’t get that luxury last season.
Every player on the roster was either new to South Carolina or new to Paris and his staff. Sometimes it was both. So there were the inevitable growing pains.
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Now, the Gamecocks return three different regulars in the starting lineup from the end of last season: Jacobi Wright, Meechie Johnson and Josh Gray.
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“It makes everything easier. I know where the shots are in the offense. I know how to play the defense and all the rules,” said Jacobi Wright, who had to learn two different systems in two years. “It’s just a better comfort level. I can focus on improving my game and helping the team rather than having to learn a system again.”
Johnson, along with Wright, has a chance to be a major influence on the Gamecocks’ backcourt this season. Gray, meanwhile, is competing for that starting center spot once the season starts.
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South Carolina had to get better after that rough 11-win year in 2022-23. The Gamecocks went out and added four transfers and a trio of freshmen to the roster.
This is where some of that experience in the system can help and those returners can help teach the newcomers.
‘It’s helped a ton. I know coach Paris’s system. Playing last year and being in those games, you’re able to bring it into year two and have a different approach,” Johnson said. “it’s easy to help (the young guys) come along. It’s been good with those guys growing.”
