South Carolina Basketball: Jeff Goodman Ranks Gamecocks Among Preseason Top 50
By Jacob Elsey
Jeff Goodman recently released his preseason breakdown of the top 50 college basketball teams for the ’20-’21 season. The Gamecocks just cracked the list, landing at No. 49.
This is the second preseason list that Frank Martin’s squad has landed on, after analyst Jon Rothstein ranked the Gamecocks as the nation’s No. 38 team going into next season. South Carolina also made the field in Joe Lunardi’s earliest Bracketology projection for the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
The Gamecocks finished last season at 18-13 (10-8). They were set to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks in the SEC Tournament before the Coronavirus effectively shut down the college basketball postseason.
Barring a deep run in the SECT, Frank Martin and Co. were most likely on their way to the NIT. The Gamecocks’ resume included wins over Virginia, Kentucky, Clemson, Mississippi State, Arkansas, and Tennessee.
The team is set to return 8 of its top 10 scorers from last season. The Gamecocks lose senior leader Maik Kotsar to graduation, as well as guard Jair Bolden, who’s transferring to Butler. Last year’s leading scorer, AJ Lawson, recently announced his plans to enter the NBA draft process, but most experts believe that he will ultimately return to Columbia.
South Carolina will look to improve upon that 18-win season, as they try to get back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since their 2016 Final Four run.