South Carolina Basketball: USC receives pledge from conference player of the year

South Carolina basketball coach Lamont Paris has had his eye out for a point guard since the transfer portal opened. The Gamecocks lost starting point guard Ta'Lon Cooper (graduation) and secondary facilitator Meechie Johnson (transfer portal) from last season's team, and USC needed someone to come in and help Jacobi Wright and Morris Ugusuk at the point guard position.

After several other players entered and exited the Gamecocks' transfer portal radar, Paris and his coaching staff found their man. On Sunday, Norfolk State transfer guard Jamarii Thomas announced a commitment to the South Carolina basketball program, becoming the third transfer to join the program after Jordan Butler (power forward/center, Missouri Tigers) and Nick Pringle (center, Alabama Crimson Tide).

Thomas, who had been committed to the VCU Rams before flipping to the Gamecocks, was the MEAC Player of the Year for the 2023-2024 season and was a 1st team All-Defense contributor for the Spartans. After spending just one season at NSU, Thomas will spend his final year of eligibility in Columbia as the next man up at the point guard position.

Thomas scored 16.9 points per game and added 3.8 rebound per game and 3.8 assists per game last season. He shot 38% from behind the 3-point line and 81% from the charity stripe, as well.

The savvy guard is a really good player in the pick-and-roll, and he is a good shooter from outside. Offensively, he likely will play a more aggressive version of the role that Ta'Lon Cooper played last season. Those pick-and-roll chops will come in handy playing alongside athletic post players like Collin Murray-Boyles and Nick Pringle.

As an All-Defensive performer at Norfolk State, Thomas also will be tasked with defending one of the top perimeter players on the other team each night. He is solid on-ball, but Thomas is deadly at stripping loose ball handling and jumping passing lanes.

You can watch some of his film here.