South Carolina’s men’s basketball season unofficially starts Wednesday night with Coker in town for an exhibition game.
Gamecocks and Cobras will enter the Colonial Life Arena court for a 6:30 pm match, which will be broadcast on SEC Network +.
Coming out of an 18-13 season, The Gamecocks returns 10 out of 12 scholarship players, adds transfer guard Seventh woods and freshman Ja’Von Benson, return two walk-ons and have another in Ford Cooper – which is ineligible this season after the transfer of the state of Missouri.
AJ Lawson highlights players who have returned by choosing to play for Gamecocks as a junior instead of becoming a professional. On the attack court, junior red shirt Justin Minaya begins its fourth season in Colombia, eager to stay healthy and help Gamecocks make up for lost production close to the edge with the All-SEC striker leaving. Maik Kotsar.
GAME INFORMATION
Arena: Colonial Life Arena (18,000)
Transmission: SEC + network
Play by play: Burch Antley
Analyst: Alex Ingles
Radio: Gamecock Radio Network
In Columbia: 107.5 The Game
Play by play: Derek Scott
Analyst: Casey Manning
Sirius: N / A | XM: 191 | Internet: 962
Watch: App WatchESPN / ESPN
Live stats: GamecocksOnline.com
GAMECOCK NOTES
– A pair of Gamecocks have received pre-season honors from the media and SEC coaches in the past two weeks. Junior guard AJ Lawson won praise from the All-SEC Second-Team preseason for the media, while Lawson (First Team) and Couisnard (Second Team) were honored by SEC coaches on the preseason teams.
– South Carolina returns 73.4 percent of last season’s score, including top scorer, junior point guard AJ Lawson, who averaged 13.4 points per game. Carolina also returns 76.3 percent of her recovery from last season, led by 6.0 per game from Minaya.
– Gamecocks kept opponents with just 39.3 percent of the field last season, which led the SEC and came in 18th place nationally.
– South Carolina officially begins the 2020-21 season when it travels to the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City this weekend. Carolina will face Liberty on Saturday at 4 pm ET at T-Mobile Center, before facing TCU or Tulsa on Sunday afternoon.
“My personal objective (this season) is to show that we can win, have a good season and reach the tournament. Last night I was barely able to sleep because I was thinking about playing. I can’t wait to play, get on the court and show our team. ”- Lawson