South Carolina Basketball: Hop on the Josh Gray bandwagon
There’s some excitement around Columbia about what the South Carolina basketball program is building. Most of it, however, is centered around the transfer portal class and the return of Meechie Johnson. There’s never too much of a good thing, of course, but one player being overshadowed in the hype is the one that was one of the best centers in the SEC late last season: Josh Gray.
The 7-footer is the tallest player on South Carolina basketball’s roster by four inches, standing well above new transfers B.J. Mack and Stephen Clark. He is the only true center on the team, and while basketball as a whole has been shifting toward a more positionless game in recent years, a good rim protector is always going to be a net plus for any team.
After transferring in from LSU prior to the 2021-22 season, Gray appeared in 25 games for the Gamecocks in the last year of the Frank Martin era, with 3 starts. In just 11.4 minutes per game, roughly 25% of a game, Gray still averaged 3.5 rebounds per game and 1.4 offensive rebounds. The potential was there, but everything during the last year of Martin is really to be taken with a grain of salt.
Last year, however, in the first season of the Lamont Paris era, Gray was arguably the most improved player on the Gamecocks’ roster. He didn’t score more than 6 points in a game until the last week of January, then proceeded to do so 4 times in February.
The splits between Gray’s non-conference outings and conference games tell the story almost better than words can. In 13 games against non-conference opposition, typically against teams worse than SEC foes, Gray averaged only 2.4 PPG and 4.1 RPG. This went along with 2.2 fouls per game in just 11.3 minutes per game, almost the exact same rotational time as last season.
Then comes along the SEC version of Josh Gray. Against stronger competition, Gray shined. In 18 games with 14 starts, Gray’s MPG went from 11.3 to 20.7. That, in turn, led to an increase to 5.8 PPG and 7.9 RPG in that span. Remember, Gray had yet to even score 7 points in one game against non-conference foes.
Then, against one of the best conferences in college basketball, he did that feat five times: 11 points against Florida, 12 against Mississippi State, and a 20-point game against Arkansas.
But try and throw away all the stats, the analytics, and the numbers. All that’s left is the trusty eye test. And that, too, was passed by Gray with flying colors. He looked confident with the ball in his hands, which was a rare sight in the first half of the year.
Getting inside was easy, and he didn’t hesitate to get to the rim towards the end of the year. Gray looked like a totally different ballplayer in the second half, and he, Lamont Paris, and the whole of South Carolina basketball deserve tons of credit for that.
Go back, for a second, to the averages of 5.8 PPG and 7.9 RPG. 5.8 doesn’t sound like much, but it still would’ve been 6th on the team over the course of the year. The 7.9 RPG, however, would not only be first on the team, but 5th in the entire SEC. For half the season, Gray was one of the best centers in the league. That is not being talked about enough in the cycle of Gamecock basketball discourse.
Gray ranked 6th in total offensive rebounds in the SEC last year while playing, on average, only half the game. Every player above him on the list started almost every game for their respective squads. Gray is an elite offensive rebounder. How elite? He’s 21st all-time in offensive rebounding percentage. By any player. At any point in time since the stat was measured.
He’s 3rd all-time in SEC history in offensive rebounding percentage, behind only Oscar Tshiebwe and Kamani Johnson. He’s ahead of names such as Nic Claxton, Grant Williams, Moses Kingsley, Daniel Gafford, Yante Maten, Bobby Portis, and Jarnell Stokes, along with others.
He’s also 2nd in SEC history in total rebounding percentage and 6th in defensive rebounding percentage. Gray is a magnet for missed shots. With a second year under the tutelage of Lamont Paris and an expanded role, it’s exciting to see how Gray will play this year. I don’t want to claim he’s basically Oscar Tshiebwe, but I will make that argument if I need to.
Jump on the Josh Gray bandwagon right now. He’s the best center South Carolina basketball has had since Chris Silva. And, statistically, he may be even better. Circle your calendars for the Gamecocks’ first game. Anything after, and it’s too late for this bandwagon.