South Carolina Basketball: Gamecocks make top-5 for transfer portal forward

Lamont Paris and his South Carolina basketball program are at a crossroads this offseason. There’s a fine line between rebuilding and just being a subpar basketball team, and the Gamecocks’ 2023 offseason will be critical in keeping the program on the right side of that line. Returning players must continue to develop, recruiting the future must be a major priority, and the transfer portal must be utilized to keep the current roster at a respectable level.

Earlier this offseason, South Carolina received commitments from guard Ta’Lon Cooper and forward Stephen Clark. Both players are candidates to start next year and fill needs as Cooper will help reduce the distributing and facilitating load from Meechie Johnson and Jacobi Wright, while Clark provides some needed low post scoring to complement the defensive-minded seven-footer Josh Gray. Mack has one more year of eligibility remaining.

One of Coach Paris’ top targets in the transfer portal is Wofford’s BJ Mack. The 6’8, 250-pound forward is a much stronger presence down low than Clark and provides much more versatile scoring than Gray. Averaging 16.6 points per game and 5.6 rebounds per contest for Wofford, Mack would be a candidate to start for the CourtCocks should he decide to move to Columbia. The big man has some touch from outside, as well, as he shot just under 35% from distance last season, which is just as efficient as any returning Gamecock.

After announcing that the Gamecocks made his top-10 a few weeks ago, on Tuesday, Mack trimmed his list to 5. His top-5 includes South Carolina, LSU, Arkansas, Iowa, and Alabama.

If Mack were to pick the Gamecocks, Lamont Paris’ team would all of a sudden become deep at the forward spots as Mack, Clark, and Gray would make a formidable top-3 down low, and incoming freshman Collin Murray-Boyles is an intriguing option as a combo forward that could play the 3 or 4. Versatile sophomore Zachary Davis and senior Ebrima Dibba—as long as he is “back” from his Achilles tear—can both play 1-4. The Gamecocks are also heavily involved with Temple transfer forward Jamille Reynolds.

Regardless of whether or not the Gamecocks land Mack (or Reynolds for that matter), the team still needs more perimeter defense and shooting. Mack would provide some shooting, but a wing who can defend and shoot the basketball should be the top target moving forward. Unfortunately, there aren’t that many impact wings available, and the ones who are will all be some of the most-coveted players in the portal.