South Carolina Basketball: Major Gamecock target, Lexington native desires to play close to home

South Carolina basketball fans let out an excited gasp in unison over the weekend when news broke that Lexington High School basketball star Cam Scott was asking to be let out of his National Letter of Intent to the University of Texas.

The Longhorns released Scott from his NLI, and the Gamecocks instantly became one of the favorites to land the former 5-star prospect.

On Monday afternoon, the speculation around Carolina's chances at landing Scott grew exponentially as he released a statement on his personal Twitter/X account.

Scott's graphic mentioned "family matters" and even went as far as to say that the 6'5" wing had a desire to "stay closer to my loved ones as I pursue the next steps of my basketball career."

When Scott originally committed to Texas, he told several media outlets that South Carolina basketball was "definitely #2" in his recruitment. That, along with the clear desire to stay close to home has fans hopeful that the Columbia-area kid will don garnet and black at the next level.

To be fair, the Auburn Tigers, Alabama Crimson Tide, and Ole Miss Rebels were all part of Scott's top-6 list at the time of his Texas commitment, and all three of those programs are closer to his home than Austin Texas (the Oregon Ducks were also in that top-6, but Eugene, Oregon certainly is not closer to home).

Scott would help fill a need on the Gamecocks' roster if he were to commit to his hometown team. After losing Ta'Lon Cooper (graduation) and Meechie Johnson (transfer portal) this offseason, Carolina needs two starting-caliber guards. Though one needs to be a point guard, the other just needs to be able to score and defend, two things that Scott is capable of doing if put into the right situation.

Scott's scoring ability will translate well to the next level, and his length and effort level are traits that a defensive-minded coach like Lamont Paris can mold into big-time production on that end of the floor, as well. Simply put, Cam Scott would be a huge get for the South Carolina basketball program if he truly elects to stay home.

You can watch some of his film here.