South Carolina basketball: four-team tournament set for 2021 season
By Jacob Elsey
South Carolina basketball will begin the season in a 4-team tournament.
South Carolina basketball is still six months away, but that doesn’t mean things have been quiet for the Gamecocks over the offseason. Head coach Frank Martin has seen an influx in talent and experience on the roster, having lost four players to the transfer portal, seeing one declare for the NBA Draft, and bringing five newcomers on board.
While coach Martin gets his new group ready for the upcoming season, he’ll now know a couple of early opponents on the non-conference slate.
College basketball insider John Rothstein announced that the Gamecocks will be taking place in a multi-team event in Asheville, North Carolina where they’ll compete with four teams. Two of those schools, Minnesota and Western Kentucky, have already been set. A fourth team will be announced at a later date.
Sources: Minnesota, South Carolina, and Western Kentucky will headline an Asheville based MTE next season. 4th team is currently TBD.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) May 18, 2021
This won’t be the first non-conference tournament that the Gamecocks have taken part in. Last year, South Carolina travelled to Kansas City to participate in the Hall of Fame Classic with Liberty, Tulsa, and TCU. They’d drop a game to the Flames before taking down the Horned Frogs in round two.
The Gamecocks have history with both Minnesota and Western Kentucky. The Golden Gophers, who will be entering their inaugural season under head coach Ben Johnson, went 14-15 last year, dropping 11 of their 12 contests away from home. Minnesota lost their last seven regular season games, leading to the firing of Richard Pitino. The 2021 roster looks to be seasoned, boasting eight upperclassmen in the 10-man group.
South Carolina leads the all-time series 2-0, winning consecutive matchups in 1977 and 1978.
Western Kentucky is coming off of a 21-8 season and appearance in the NIT. The Hilltoppers knocked off teams like St Mary’s and Alabama last year, and just missed an upset of West Virginia. WKU was nearly an NCAA Tournament team, but ultimately dropped the Conference USA Championship game to North Texas 61-57.
South Carolina and Western Kentucky last met in 2010, an 87-85 overtime win for the Gamecocks. Carolina leads the all-time series 6-1.
Both teams will present challenges for the Gamecocks in non-conference play, and they should each add some value to South Carolina’s strength of schedule. We’ll have to wait and see who the final participant will be.