From puking to scoring, Jason Cudd is impressing Frank Martin, fellow Gamecocks

When Frank Martin recruits project big men, the South Carolina basketball coach looks for three things. Is the 7-footer soft or does he embrace contact? Does he move well or is the footwork slow and sloppy? How are his hands? Good enough to catch, pass and shoot without limitation?

Jason Cudd, a 7-1 center from Socastee High School in Myrtle Beach, checked all of Martin’s boxes. When Cudd committed to the Gamecocks in September 2016, Martin painted a picture in his mind. He saw Cudd banging against the SEC’s top frontlines. He saw him showing off a feathery touch around the basket.

What he failed to envision was Cudd hovered over a trash can.

“Oh, he puked for us, too,” said Socastee coach Derrick Hilton. “We would be doing some conditioning and he’d be over there.”

It was the last question of Martin’s press conference after USC’s upset of No. 10 Auburn on Saturday. Cudd scored a career-high six points in the game, and did so as the first Gamecock off the bench.

Curiosity surrounded Martin’s new sixth man. How exactly did he earn the role? Anything happen in Friday’s practice?

“I don’t know how long we were at practice, but 10 minutes into practice, I’m looking around,” Martin said. “‘Where’s Cudd?’ And it was his birthday, too. I’m like, ‘Where’s Cudd?’ And I turn around and he’s sitting on the baseline, he’s got his head inside a trash can puking his brains out. I’ve been there before, I get it.

“He puked for over an hour! I finally went over and said, ‘Never in my life have I seen somebody puke for an hour straight. Can you like get back in practice? Wipe your mouth.’

“And you know what’s crazy? He got up, finished the last 20 minutes of practice. And I went, ‘Wow, that’s pretty good.’ For a young kid. And then he went out there and played that way today.”

Whether Cudd returns to early action Wednesday night against Georgia is a mystery – his size presented matchup issues against vertically-challenged Auburn – but just know he’s rising in the eyes of Carolina players and staff members.

Friday’s scene, combined with Saturday’s effort, confirmed it for senior point guard Wes Myers.

“That just uplifts the team and the spirit because we know that Cudd came from not being able to guard a ball-screen to out there giving all his effort and energy,” Myers said, “even when he’s sick. It’s like, ‘What excuse do we have?’”

Cudd, who chose USC over East Carolina and Tulane, strongly considered redshirting this season. He initiated such a conversation with Martin over the summer.

“I can tell you right now, a little bit of that came from me because I told him,” Hilton said. “I said, ‘You need to check with him and see and hear what they’re telling you about it and if that is a possibility.’ ”

Hilton knew the speed of college basketball – and the strength needed to excel at that level – would require Cudd to make a big adjustment. Martin wasn’t blind to those hurdles, either.

“Why worry about something before we get there?” Martin said, relaying what he told Cudd. “And once we got closer to the season, he never asked (about redshirting) again because he knew he had a chance to play.

“He’s worked at it. He’s a competitor. He’s very quiet, but he’s got pride. And I think all those things put together allow him to keep getting up.”

Cudd has totaled 11 points over USC’s past three games, his best stretch of the year. Hilton said the listed 255-pounder is noticeably more defined from his prep days.

“From the beginning of the season until now, I’ve seen a major improvement in a lot of my game,” Cudd said. “A lot of what’s been helping me is the physical aspect of it. Getting stronger and being able to keep up with these guys.”

With Maik Kotsar in foul trouble at Tennessee last Wednesday, Martin relied on Cudd for 14 minutes against the nation’s 18^th-ranked team. His dunk at the 7:58 mark of the second half cut South Carolina’s deficit to six points. He followed it up with a block on the Volunteers’ ensuing possession.

The performance wasn’t flawless – Cudd missed three of his four shots and struggled to defend UT’s more polished Grant Williams (22 points) – but it was enough for Martin to include him in pre-Auburn plans.

If, of course, Cudd ever got his head out of the trash can.

“It sucked to be throwing up on the sideline because obviously you want to be in practice,” Cudd said, “but Frank’s been putting a lot of trust in me and been putting his faith in me by playing me in games. If I didn’t come in in the last 20 minutes when I was able to, I felt like I was betraying his trust.”

Martin describes Cudd as “fun” and a player “that wants you to coach him.” Hilton got a similar experience – right down to the post-puke rallies.

“He’s always ended up finishing off for us,” Hilton said. “It was usually a practice where I had to get some attention or things started getting a little bit sloppy. At the end I’d say, ‘We can do conditioning. We can get some reps in doing plays or we could do it another way.’ We’d do it another way, and he’d be over that by that trash can.

“But he’d push himself to try make sure he made it every time.”

This story was originally published February 20, 2018 at 12:27 PM with the headline "From puking to scoring, Jason Cudd is impressing Frank Martin, fellow Gamecocks."