The Sports Bank’s college basketball season previews undergo a face lift this season. Rather than counting down the top 111 teams in 111 days, we will go conference-by-conference. I’ve already counted down the Pac-12 and Big 12 now we turn our attention to the SEC.
In his third season as head coach, Frank Martin has yet to take the South Carolina Gamecocks to the next level of the SEC. While they might be slightly improved this season, it is unlikely the Gamecocks make much of a move up the conference pecking order.
SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS
Last season: 13th, 5-13 in SEC, 14-20 overall
Projected SEC Finish: 12th
Projected Depth Chart
F/C: Demetrius Henry (So)/Laimonas Chatkevicius (Jr)
PF: Mindaugas Kacinas (Jr)/Brian Steele (Jr)/Reggie Theus Jr. (So)
SF: Michael Carrera (Jr)/Shamiek Sheppard (Fr)
SG: Sindarius Thornwell (So)/Justin McKie (So)/TeMarcus Blanton (Fr)
PG: Tyrone Johnson (Sr)/Duane Notice (So)/Marcus Stroman (Fr)
Gone: PG-Brenton Williams, G-Bruce Ellington, PG-Jaylen Shaw (transfer-Coastal Carolina), C-Desmond Ringer (transfer-Mercer)
2014-2015 Outlook:
If South Carolina is going to exceed expectations, their backcourt must carry the load. Sindarius Thornwell had a terrific freshman campaign and is a breakout candidate this season due to his all-around offensive ability. Duane Notice also put together a solid freshman season while Villanova transfer Tyrone Johnson made a signifcant impact before having his season cut short due to injury. All three will see major minutes and Martin has to decide whether to use a smaller, three-guard startling lineup or bring one of them off the bench.
The Gamecocks have quality depth but not a whole lot of offensive firepower up-front. Miguel Carrera, Mindaugas Kacinas, Demetrius Henry, and Laimonas Chatkevicius were all involved in the frontcourt rotation last season but of that foursome, nobody really set himself apart from the other. In fact, Carrera even took a step back after a promising freshman year. The collective strength of that group is cleaning up the glass but in order for SC to make strides this season, they need to get more production offensively from their forwards.
The rest of the Gamecock roster is young and untested so unless one of the seldom used reserves from a year ago or three freshmen step up, Martin should stick with a pretty tight seven-eight man rotation with either Brian Steele or Justin McKie likely being the next man up.
Key Non-Conference Games:
11/18 vs. Baylor
11/20 vs. Cornell (Charleston Classic)
11/21 vs. Penn State/Charlotte (Charleston Classic)
11/23 vs. Miami FL/Drexel/USC/Akron (Charleston Classic)
12/1 at Marshall
12/6 vs. Oklahoma State (SEC/Big 12 Challenge)
12/19 vs. Clemson
1/3 vs. Iowa State (in Brooklyn)
OTHER SEC PREVIEWS:
BIG 12 PREVIEWS:
#1 KANSAS JAYHAWKS
#2 TEXAS LONGHORNS
PAC-12 PREVIEWS:
#1 ARIZONA WILDCATS
#4 UCLA BRUINS
David Kay is a senior feature NBA Draft, NBA, and college basketball writer for the Sports Bank. He also heads up the NBA and college basketball material at Walter Football.com and is a former contributor at The Washington Times Communities. David has appeared on numerous national radio programs spanning from Cleveland to New Orleans to Milwaukee to Honolulu. He also had the most accurate 2011 NBA Mock Draft and the most accurate 2012 NBA Mock Draft on the internet (Yup, repeat champ… #humblebrag), and finished with the second most accurate 2013 NBA Mock Draft (nearly a three-peat.) You can follow him on Twitter at David_Kmiecik.