8 players who can help their team advance in the SEC Tournament

Meechie Johnson (South Carolina)

A former benchwarmer at Ohio State, Johnson transferred to South Carolina two seasons ago, arriving at the same time as head coach Lamont Paris. Now, Johnson has become a major cog in the Gamecocks’ incredible season; one that will end with their first trip to the Big Dance in seven years.

After a monster step forward as a sophomore last year, Johnson now averages 14.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game as a junior. He’s the leading scorer on a South Carolina roster full of under-the-radar talent.

Johnson had some nice performances during South Carolina’s hot start to the season, including a season-high 29 points in a win over Notre Dame. While his in-league performances don’t regularly jump off the page, he did key recent wins with 22 points at Texas A&M and 25 a few days later against Florida.

You can tell it’s been a great year for the top of the SEC when a 13-5 finish gets the Gamecocks the 5-seed in the SEC Tournament. If this team is going to make noise then they’re going to get great leadership out of Johnson. This team has shown that they can win big games this season and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see more of that this week.