South Carolina Basketball: Columbia-area native, 5-star Gamecock target decommits from Texas

South Carolina basketball fans were left disappointed in August when Lexington High School star Cam Scott spurned the Gamecocks to commit to the Texas Longhorns. The two-time South Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year had put the Gamecocks on his list of top schools but did not pick his hometown team.

There's a chance that could be changing.

On Saturday, it was reported by On3's Jamie Shaw that Cam Scott was requesting his release from his signed Letter of Intent to play at Texas. Shortly after, he reported that Scott, indeed, had been granted that release.

The South Carolina basketball roster has a need for a scoring 2-guard, a role that Scott can fill nicely. The Gamecocks will be involved with Scott once the release is made official. As a local kid, a perfect fit, and an extremely interested recruit, it only makes sense for USC to be one of the favorites to wind up with the 6'5" Scott.

Even when he chose Texas in August, Scott said multiple times that South Carolina basketball coach Lamont Paris did a great job in his recruitment and that the Gamecocks were "definitely #2" at the time of his decision. The Ole Miss Rebels, Alabama Crimson Tide, Auburn Tigers, and Oregon Ducks were the other four teams in Scott's top-6 last summer.

As a player, Scott is a shot-maker. He can score from all three levels, and he can make difficult shots. He is a really good athlete who plays like an elite athlete thanks to his length (6'5" with a long wingspan while playing on the perimeter) and major aggressiveness on the offensive end. He was a former 5-star but finished the recruiting process as one of the highest-ranked 4-star recruits in the nation.

The Gamecocks had been planning to bring in a couple of guards in the transfer portal this offseason to help replace the losses of Ta'Lon Cooper (graduation) and Meechie Johnson (transfer portal, Ohio State Buckeyes). If they are able to bring Cam Scott back home, though, the plan might change. Carolina still has a major need for a starting-caliber point guard and another big (especially one who can provide some offensive punch and rim protection), and those players likely will have to be found in the transfer portal.

You can watch some of his film here.