Trae Hannibal still on a ‘star’ path at USC as long as he learns — and stays hydrated
Mike Green is a freshman walk-on guard for South Carolina basketball. Such a title comes with responsibility. He studies tape, gets a sense of USC’s opponents and works to give the Gamecocks the best look possible as a scout team member.
But Green is also Trae Hannibal’s roommate, a title that come with another responsibility: Remind Hannibal to drink water.
“The coaching staff and the nutritionist,” Green said, “they put a little pressure on me. Like, ‘Mike, make sure you get on him. Make sure he’s hydrated.’”
Hannibal, a former top 150 recruit from Hartsville High School, is coming off the best performance of his young career. The physical point guard scored four points, grabbed four rebounds, had two assists and a steal in 16 minutes off the bench to help USC beat Clemson last Sunday. It was Hannibal’s first appearance in two weeks and he delivered in a rivalry game the Gamecocks (7-4) needed to have.
It’s just that he didn’t finish the game. In fact, the lasting image of Hannibal is him straight-legged with his toes dragging the Littlejohn Coliseum court. Maik Kotsar and USC trainer Mark Rodger carried Hannibal to the bench. Over eight minutes remained in the second half and his night was done for a second time this season became of cramps.
“I was kind of just like, ‘Again? Come on. You gotta stay hydrated.,’” Green said. “A lot of people try to hydrate the day before the game, two days before the game. It’s really a week in advance. You just got to keep that water constantly going.”
It’s the little details that Hannibal is trying to conquer during this first year in Frank Martin’s program. The USC coach said Thursday that Hannibal has a “chance to be a star,” a phrase he’s used since Hannibal signed with the Gamecocks last November.
“My opinion has not changed,” Martin said. “That daily focus to learn is his biggest challenge right now. And I’ve been starting to understand him, too. So I think I can help him better than when I could six weeks ago.”
The cramping is something that plagued the 6-foot-2, 217-pound Hannibal in high school. That muscular base that causes explosion and ferocious dunks can also tighten easily.
“I have a lot of muscles in my legs,” Hannibal said. “I have to take in more water than what I have been drinking. Instead of chugging, more sips and things like that. So just staying hydrated, man. Getting a bunch of fluids in my body is really what I’ve been working on this past week.”
That and a continued grasp of Martin’s system.
Hannibal played in seven of Carolina’s first eight games before being a healthy scratch at UMass on Dec. 4 and against Houston on Dec. 8. The latter contest was a 20-point loss that came before a seven-day gap in USC’s schedule.
Martin took the break to self-scout. Where were the Gamecocks struggling? How could they get better? Part of that answer was revealed when Hannibal checked in at the 13:32 mark of the first half at Clemson, his earliest game appearance of the season.
“When it’s the structure of our X and Os, I get really depressed when I watch him play,” Martin said. “But the one thing our team has been lacking is a personality, an enthusiasm, a genuine desire to be competitive, not when things are going right, but when we’re being challenged. Trae brings that. He brings an enthusiasm.”
Hannibal is admittedly far from a finished product — he’s in a fight to break old high school habits — but he’s invested in Martin as his guide. Not matter how hard the coaching might be.
“Playing basketball the way he wants you to play, it works,” Hannibal said. “I’m not going to lie, it works.”
Hannibal’s Exhibit A came during the first half at Clemson when, following an A.J. Lawson steal and dunk, Martin quickly changed defenses — frontcourt pressure into zone — and the Gamecocks, via Keyshawn Bryant, got another takeaway.
“Everybody was in line and engaged and talking,” Hannibal said. “It’s like everything he calls, it works.”
Green and Hannibal often review together Martin’s strategies. They’ll spend room time discussing practices, games and what they’re learning.
They’re drinking everything in. One jug at a time.
“Staying hydrated,” Hannibal said.
Next
What: South Carolina (7-4) at No. 9 Virginia (9-1)
Where: John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Va.
When: 3 p.m. Sunday
TV: ABC
Radio: 107.5 The Game in Columbia area
This story was originally published December 20, 2019 at 5:00 AM.
