South Carolina Basketball: Former Gamecock is back in the transfer portal

South Carolina basketball fans have their eyes firmly placed on the transfer portal. With a big need at point guard and a desire for a big man with real size and athleticism who can defend SEC centers, the Gamecocks have targets like Dakota Leffew and Nick Pringle on their mind.

However, the team also lost two players in the transfer portal as combo guard Meechie Johnson and reserve Ebrima Dibba left the program. Johnson wound up at Ohio State (again), but Dibba has not found a new home yet.

Some former Carolina players who left the program before this offseason also have been on the move. Big man Patrick Iriel, who last played at USC-Upstate, is in the portal, and wing Trey Anderson is leaving San Jose State as a transfer, too.

On Thursday, former Gamecock walk-on guard Ford Cooper hit the transfer portal again. After starting his career on scholarship at Missouri State, Cooper spent three years as a walk-on with the South Carolina basketball team before shifting over to the Hampton Pirates last season. Thanks to a redshirt plus the "Covid redshirt," Cooper will have one year left to play.

During his time in Columbia, Cooper was not a major factor, but the state of the 2022-2023 roster was so dire that he once had to play 29 minutes (very uncommon as a walk-on) in a win over USC-Upstate. He didn't play much for Hampton this season, either.

Leffew is set to visit the South Carolina basketball program this weekend. If he joins the program, and Nick Pringle elects to stay in his home Palmetto State to play for the Gamecocks, USC could throw out a starting lineup next season with players standing 6'5" (Dakota Leffew), 6'5" (Cam Scott), 6'7" (Zach Davis), 6'8" (Collin Murray-Boyles), and 6'10" (Nick Pringle), marking the longest Gamecock starting lineup in a long time.