South Carolina Basketball: Gamecocks Add George Washington to Non-Conference Slate
By Jacob Elsey
The South Carolina basketball team has added a new opponent to its 2020-21 non-conference schedule.
News of the matchup was first reported by Jon Rothstein, and sees the Gamecocks traveling to the nation’s capital to square off against George Washington University in December. This comes just days after the Colonials added Virginia Tech to its ’20-’21 non-conference slate.
The outing comes as part of a multi-year series that’s taken place over the last two seasons. Frank Martin’s crew hosted the Colonials in Columbia last year, a season after the two teams met on a neutral court in ’18. Both games ended in Gamecock victories, with South Carolina blowing out the Colonials 90-55 in the first matchup, and George Washington keeping it more competitive in a 74-65 loss in ’19.
George Washington finished 11th in the Atlantic 10 standings last year, ending the season with a 12-20 (6-12) record. The Colonials lose top scorer Armel Potter, but return three players that averaged double figures in ’19. They also added big man Matthew Moyer as a graduate transfer from Vanderbilt.
South Carolina will look to improve upon an 18-win regular season, with hopes of getting back to the NCAA Tournament. The Gamecocks return nearly all contributors from last year’s squad, with the exception of senior center Maik Kotsar. Leading scorer AJ Lawson has opted to go through the NBA draft process, but has not hired an agent and is believed to be returning for his junior season.
This is the latest addition to a South Carolina non-conference schedule that includes Clemson, Houston, Army, Radford, and Western Carolina, as well as possible matchups vs. Northwestern, TCU, and California as part of the Hall of Fame Classic.