South Carolina Basketball: 5-star visiting Columbia this weekend

South Carolina basketball coach Lamont Paris was out recruiting on Monday. According to a post from Nick Jones, an assistant basketball coach at Myers Park High School in Charlotte, Paris made a trip up I-77 to see an elite prospect just over the North Carolina border.

Sadiq “AJ” White, at one time rated as a 5-star prospect, is a consensus top-39 national recruit and is ranked in “5-star range” by both Rivals and 247Sports (and very close by On3 and 247Sports), seemingly in line to receive the bump back to 5-star status in the coming months.

The versatile forward is extremely athletic, and he seems to relish any opportunity to punish the basket with rim-rattling dunks. He moves well enough to be a weapon on the fast break, and in halfcourt sets, he has a knack for going unnoticed in the dunker’s spot until it is too late for the defense to do anything about him getting a clean look at the hoop.

But dunking isn’t all he can do.

The left-handed White is a capable 3-point shooter, and he has enough ball-handling acumen to make defenders pay if they bite on a pump fake. It doesn’t take long for a rangy athlete like White to make his way to the basket if given a little bit of space.

At 6’8″ and 185 pounds, White has plenty of size to play all over the frontcourt at the college level. He is a natural fit at either forward spot, and against smaller centers, he can hold his own, as well. Still just a high school junior, he has some time to add more strength to his frame, something that will help him on the defensive end of the court.

As things stand today, White is a very effective high school defender who uses his length and quick-twitch athleticism to block a lot of shots. It takes more than just length and athleticism to be a good defender in college, but the Charlotte native seems to have the tools and the “want to” to develop into a player a coach can trust on both ends of the floor.

South Carolina basketball recently received their first commitment in the class of 2025 when in-state 4-star forward Hayden Assemian pledged himself to Lamont Paris and the Gamecocks.

You can watch some of his film here.