SEC Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2024-25 season
By Justin Wiles
13. South Carolina Gamecocks
The Gamecocks were one of the biggest surprises in all of college basketball last season. Lamont Paris won 11 games in his first year and 26 games in year two. But with the loss of three of the top teams' top scorers from last year, South Carolina once again will be fighting to win games.
Last year's offense (72.1 ppg) wasn’t the greatest but was good enough to propel the team to wins on the back of its defense. But having to replace more than 50 percent of its scoring from last year poses some challenges for South Carolina. The biggest offensive addition this offseason was Jamarii Thomas (16.9 ppg), a high-scoring guard from Norfolk State. While Thomas should help with scoring on the perimeter, returning forward Collin Murray-Boyles (10.4 ppg) should once again be a solid post presence for the Gamecocks.
South Carolina was one of the better defenses last year, and will likely be again this season. The slower pace that Paris likes to play with helps limit the number of shots taken which worked last year, holding opponents 67.6 points per game. While that number might be hard to replicate this season, Paris and the Gamecocks added a solid defender this offseason by signing Nick Pringle from the transfer portal. Pringle averaged 5.1 rebounds and nearly one block per game last season.
Much of South Carolina’s success this year will be dependent on a good defense to make up for a below-average offense. Collin Murray-Boyles will need to take a big step forward on both ends of the court for South Carolina to have immediate success. Paris added some solid complimentary pieces from the transfer portal, but how big of an impact those pieces have is still unknown. Other than Murray-Boyles and Jamarii Thomas, the Gamecocks most likely won’t have a ton of offensive firepower. There’s still a chance that South Carolina will exceed expectations again this year, but it seems more likely that there will be some regression and the Gamecock fall back towards the bottom of the SEC standings.