Why South Carolina returners opted to stay with the Gamecocks

In today’s world of college basketball, no one would have faulted the South Carolina players on last year’s roster for hopping in the transfer portal.

The Gamecocks did have a host of players head to other schools, but a few did opt to stay and the experience has been good for those players so far with Lamont Paris now at the helm. 

“I had my first meeting with coach Paris and we had a good conversation and I asked him a lot of questions: what he saw in me, what he thinks I can do in his play style,” Jacobi Wright said.

“I grew a confidence in him and the whole staff and I believe in what he’s telling me. His past schools, he’s won wherever he’s been. My main goal is to win and make the tournament. Coach Paris is a winner and I feel like I’m a winner. I think it’ll go well and I fit his play style.”

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Along with Wright, South Carolina had four other players from the 2021-22 team stay at South Carolina during the coaching transition.

Chico Carter Jr., Josh Gray, Tre-Vaughn Minott and Ja’Von Benson are all back as holdovers from last year’s roster and hoping to make an impact this season. 

Each had their own reasons for wanting to stay but are enjoying a fresh start with a new regime. 

“It’s hard to leave home. I want to start off there. Second, the coaching staff believed in me,” said Benson, who grew up in Columbia. “I waited it out to see what was going on with them and they told me based on my film I’m a guy who can help win ball games. That meant a lot to me. I didn’t play during my freshman and sophomore year. For them to give me an opportunity I had to take it and roll with it.” 

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Each player had a meeting with Paris when he took the job this spring, and liked what they heard about his system and the program he wants to build. 

“I talked to coach Lamont Paris before I even thought about anything like that. I wanted to know if he was invested in me. He said he was,” Josh Gray said. “He was very honest and frank about what he saw in me and what he was trying to do with the team. I ultimately made the decision to stay and give him a shot. It’s going pretty good so far.” 

With both Gray and Carter, each used their one-time free transfer. But with the way the NCAA hands out waivers for second-time transfers, both likely could have entered the portal and have been playing this year.

Both opted to stay for different reasons, and for Carter it meant staying in his hometown. 

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“I want to thank Frank (Martin) for giving me the opportunity to come back to South Carolina. That was a great opportunity for my family and me. I wouldn’t say that was a bad choice,” Carter said. “I would say that was a great choice. Coach Paris, he has an energy and aura about him that makes you want to play for him. He has a winning background and winning culture.” 

Those guys are the holdovers on a team with a swath of new faces. For Gray, he jokes this is his third new head coach in three collegiate seasons, but him staying has helped him get closer with the other guys who opted to stay as well.

“This is a quite unique experience. But the transition’s been great. I feel like it’s the same transition I had last year,” he said. “Since I stayed I made stronger bonds with the guys who also stayed. It’s been pretty good.”

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