South Carolina Gamecocks News: NCAA Tournaments, Juice Wells, football recruiting, baseball, more

Here is the latest South Carolina Gamecocks News from a packed week, starting with the baseball team’s continued skid.

The South Carolina baseball team played four more games last week and went a disappointing 1-3. The Gamecocks lost the mid-week contest to Charlotte through a very poor pitching performance, and Tennessee took two of three in Columbia in a series that was billed by some as a “winner gets to host a regional” matchup.

Jack Mahoney pitched well in Carolina’s one win of the week, but situational hitting was very poor for most of the week, and the non-Mahoney pitching struggled yet again.

The 5th-seeded Gamecocks will match up with the 10th-seeded Georgia Bulldogs in the single-elimination portion of the SEC Tournament on Tuesday. The game will be shown on the SECNetwork at 10:30.

The other sport on the diamond had a really good week but came up short against one of the country’s best teams.

After a remarkable run all the way to the SEC Tournament Championship Game, the South Carolina softball squad fought their way out of the loser’s bracket in the Tallahassee regional of the NCAA Tournament. After beating Marist, UCF, and Florida State, Carolina forced a winner-take-all game against the 3rd-seeded Seminoles. The Gamecocks pitched very well but had a perfect game thrown against them to end their Tournament run.

Tennis’ best season since 1989 came to an end, as well.

South Carolina tennis made its way deep into the NCAA Tournament, all the way to the Elite Eight. In the end, the Gamecocks lost to top-overall seed Texas. The top-8 finish is the program’s best since the ’89 team lost in the Final Four.

The football program has been in the headlines of recruiting news, as usual.

The Gamecocks were officially named in the top-6 for 4-star running back Peyton Lewis who set a decision date of May 27th. South Carolina is in the game for Lewis, but he is expected to pick Tennessee.

High-upside athlete David Rodriguez has the Gamecocks in his top-5. Rodriguez is highly thought of by some smaller recruiting publications but has not been ranked as high in some of the early rankings from the larger recruiting services.

South Carolina target and 4-star receiver Jonathan Paylor committed to play in the 2024 Under Armour All-American game. He will join fellow 4-star receiver target Keylen Adams in the game.

In the transfer portal, the Gamecocks secured a commitment from preferred walk-on Ni Mansell on the offensive line. Mansell adds some depth to an offensive line unit that is being forced to move some pieces around after the injury to starting left tackle Jaylen Nichols.

Carolina missed on two big-time transfer running backs. Former Notre Dame back Logan Diggs committed to his hometown LSU Tigers, and Demie Sumo-Karngbaye reunited with his NC State quarterback as the pair have each committed to joining the Kentucky Wildcats.

Elite transfer receiver Keon Coleman finalized his transfer from Michigan State to Florida State. The Gamecocks were a factor in his second recruitment but were viewed as a longshot.

Juice Wells is getting paid.

According to a lawyer and professor of NIL at the University of Miami, the player with the most NIL deals in the SEC is South Carolina football’s Antwane “Juice” Wells. NIL played a factor in Wells’ return to school for a final season.

On3 released their list of the top-100 players in college football.

Juice Wells was an obvious inclusion, but the Gamecocks had one other selection to the list: Marcellas Dial. Carolina fans would have likely guessed Spencer Rattler, Trey Knox, Nick Emmanwori, or several other players would have made the list before Dial, but if the athletic corner can play like a top-100 player and fill the shoes of the off-to-the-NFL Cam Smith and Darius Rush, no one in Columbia will be complaining.

Former Gamecock GG Jackson performed well at the 2023 NBA Scouting Combine.

Jackson showed himself to be a plus athlete for his position at the combine. Measuring in at over 6’8″ (barefoot) and 212 pounds, he is bigger than some may have expected. That combination of athleticism and size makes him an ideal combo forward at the NBA level, especially if he pairs his considerable offensive talent with better focus on the defensive end of the floor.

Jackson is a polarizing draft prospect due to his immaturity, the bad situation he was in as the best player on a struggling Gamecock team, and his shot selection issues. However, those same weaknesses are also strengths: Jackson has handled a high volume of offensive duties already, he is the youngest player in the draft, and he has shown an ability to make difficult shots.

He is projected to go anywhere from the late lottery (10th-14th) to the end of the 1st round.

South Carolina basketball also has a second chance to land Jermain O’Neal.

Well, sort of. Jermaine O’Neal was high school basketball star in Columbia in the ’90s who entered the NBA straight out of high school instead of attending college. Many assumed he would be a Gamecock.

Now, about a quarter of a century later, O’Neal’s son is 4-star prospect in the class of 2025. The Gamecocks had Jermaine O’Neal, Jr. on campus for a visit last week, one he took with his famous father. The younger O’Neal is a 6’4″ small forward recruit who is beginning to rack up the offers.

The ACC could be in trouble behind the scenes, and Clemson seems to want to join the SEC.

A “secret seven” of Clemson, Florida State, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Miami supposedly met to discuss frustrations with the conference and brainstorm ways to leave the conference. A television deal and grant of rights that runs through 2036 will make that extremely difficult and expensive, so the rumored realignment might not happen. Louisville is rumored to have interest in leaving the conference, as well.

If the ACC does, indeed, have a mass exodus, Clemson appears to be very interested in joining the SEC. However, the SEC’s top choices would likely be schools from North Carolina and Virginia as the SEC currently has no footprint in those states (and, more importantly, in those television markets). Clemson, Miami, and Florida State are still appealing options due to their athletic departments.