SEC Basketball: Early grades for each teams 2023 offseason moves

South Carolina Gamecocks – Grade: C

The C grade is nothing to be ashamed of if you are a Gamecock fan. The team is a full rebuild now and head coach Lamont Paris is trying to stockpile talent. South Carolina was bad last year and they likely don’t expect to be good for a few seasons. This year should be a huge improvement, especially after losing a lottery pick in the offseason. The C ranking is not a bad ranking, it just shows that South Carolina got exactly what they were looking for and understood the caliber of player they are capable of pulling.

BJ Mack is a transfer from Wofford who is coming back home. If you are looking for a quick player comparison it is Derrick Walker Jr. He is skilled around the rim and is a fantastic passer for his size. Myles Stute is an interconference transfer as he heads over to Columbia, South Carolina from Vanderbilt. The wing is a great shooter from deep and will start for coach Paris. The one thing that every team needs and especially South Carolina is a point guard. They were able to get a pretty good one in Ta’lon Cooper. Cooper was one of the top assist men in the Big Ten and will make sure the shooters get the ball when they need it. Cooper is also a threat to put up games on the offensive side of the ball.

Tennessee Volunteers – Grade: C+

Will the Volunteers be good next season?  Probably. Will Tennessee make the tournament next year?  Probably again. So then why such a bad grade?  Tennessee and head coach Rick Barnes are one of the handful of programs that have had enough success over the last decade to have their pick of the litter in recruiting and the transfer portal. They are a hard school to out-recruit. That is why I am extremely confused by the commitments and how they fit with the roster. It doesn’t seem like Tennessee has any continuity in their roster. They have tons of talent but no real role players, or at least that we know of yet.

The Volunteers lost some huge talent to the portal, mainly Olivier Nkamhoua and Julian Phillips. They replaced that talent with three huge pieces that don’t seem to fit right now. Chris Ledlum was a double-double machine at Harvard. He is a good defender and rebounder and won’t be as good of an offensive player but he should still average close to a double-double. Dalton Knect is a superstar in waiting. He is one of the best shooters in the country and heads to a team that desperately needs three-point shooting. He averaged over 20 points per game at Northern Colorado, but with Santiago Vescovi and Zakai Ziegler already in the backcourt is he willing to come off the bench?

Jordan Gainey is yet another guard from USC Upstate who is another good shooter and dynamic scorer. His dad is one of the assistant coaches for Tennessee. The Volunteers are very guard heavy, they could have done a lot more with the resources they have in the portal.