South Carolina Basketball: Which early season tournaments do the Gamecocks play in this season?

Lamont Paris’ South Carolina basketball squad will look very different in the 2023-2024 season. Some major contributors are gone from last year’s team as GG Jackson is in the NBA, Hayden Brown has graduated, and Chico Carter hit the transfer portal and ended up at DePaul.

Change might be just what the Gamecocks needed, though, as last year’s team tied a program record for losses, falling 21 times in the 2022-2023 campaign.

Seven new scholarship players (four transfers and three freshmen) and two walk-on freshmen will join returners like Meechie Johnson, Josh Gray, Jacobi Wright, Ebrima Dibba, and Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk in ensuring that the South Carolina basketball program starts heading in the right direction in year two of the Lamont Paris era in Columbia.

The Gamecocks’ out-of-conference schedule includes several early-season tournaments, events, and “challenges” that will play a big role in determining the direction of the program this year.

After opening the new season at home against the USC-Upstate Spartans, the Gamecocks will play in the Hall of Fame Series against the Virginia Tech Hokies in Spectrum Arena, home of the Charlotte Hornets.

A mid-major game at home at Colonial Life Arena against another Virginia opponent (the VMI Keydets) follows the neutral site game against Virginia Tech.

After that, South Carolina will travel out west for the Arizona Tip-Off. In the Tip-Off, USC will face off against old friend Chico Carter and his DePaul Blue Demons before playing either the Grand Canyon Antelopes or San Francisco Dons in the last game of the four-team tournament.

Immediately following the Arizona Tip-Off, South Carolina basketball will play in the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at home in Columbia.

Seven more out-of-conference games (including the annual rivalry game against Clemson) will follow these early season events before SEC play begins in January.