National analyst predicts bad year for South Carolina basketball despite but doesn't even know Gamecock roster

South Carolina basketball coach Lamont Paris seems to relish the opportunity to prove doubters wrong.

Last season, his Gamecocks were picked to finish dead last in the SEC, and Paris had several memorable rants (both before the first game and during the season) in which he rebuked the media for their lack of knowledge of his team.

"If they like us, they like; if they don't, they'll pay the price" became a rallying cry for South Carolina basketball fans as they supported their coach and favorite team, and USC had its best season since the 2016-2017 Final Four year, finishing tied for 2nd in the SEC and earning a 6-seed in the NCAA Tournament.

This offseason, Coach Paris will have more fuel for his motivational fire.

With relative consistency, the national media has discredited the Gamecocks' offseason moves and has picked Carolina to return to the bottom of the Southeastern Conference and to be on the outside looking in when Selection Sunday for the NCAA Tournament rolls around in March.

CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein has been a Gamecock doubter, and his predictions for the SEC only added to the feelings of disrespect felt by the garnet and black faithful.

Rothstein picked the Gamecocks to finish 12th in the league this season, placing them ahead of only the Vanderbilt Commodores (16th), LSU Tigers (15th), Oklahoma Sooners (14th), and Missouri Tigers (13th).

To be fair, there is a reality in which South Carolina basketball finishes 12th in the SEC. The conference might be better than it ever has been, and if a few things don't go well from an injury standpoint or if some of the newcomers do not acclimate well to their new homes, falling down the standings can happen.

However, picking this version of the Gamecocks to finish 12th seems too low, especially because Rothstein's analysis indicates that he doesn't know the team very well at all.

In his article, he includes some information for each team, including a projected starting 5, the team's bench, key newcomers, and key departures from last year. However, Rothstein's synopsis of Lamont Paris' team isn't very accurate.

First, Rothstein's article completely omitted a scholarship player off of the Gamecock roster. Austin Herro is a reshirt freshman guard who hopes to crack the rotation this year by providing scoring punch off the bench. However, according to Rothstein, Herro doesn't even exist. Herro is not included on Rothstein's version of the Carolina bench.

Rothstein also did not include point guard Jamarii Thomas among his 20 impact transfers or 15 under-the-radar transfers in the SEC. Essentially, he is viewing Thomas outside of the top-35 transfers in the conference, which is ridiculous. Thomas was the Mid-Eastern Atlantic Conference Player of the Year last season, led the league in scoring and steals, and made the conference's All-Defensive 1st team.

Thomas likely will be a starter for the 2024-2025 version of the South Carolina basketball team, but Rothstein does not have him in his projected starting lineup. He also doesn't include Zach Davis starting, despite Davis starting the back half of the year last season.

To his credit (a bit), Rothstein included transfer center Nick Pringle among his top-20 impact transfers and freshman wing Cam Scott among the top-15 impact freshmen. Both Gamecock newcomers are projected starters and will be extremely important to the team's success.

The prove-the-doubters-wrong tour 2.0 will begin on November 4th when the Gamecocks host the North Florida Ospreys at Colonial Life Arena in the season opener.