Two Gamecocks basketball signees earn SC Player of Year honors

Two South Carolina basketball signees picked up statewide accolades Wednesday.

Hartsville’s Trae Hannibal was named Class 4A Boys Player of the Year, and Lexington’s Olivia Thompson was named Class 5A Girls Player of the Year. Both have signed to play with the Gamecocks next season.

Both players also were named to the Carolinas Classic All-Star games on Wednesday.

Hannibal averaged 27.2 points, 10.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists this season for the Red Foxes. He had 22 points in Wednesday’s playoff win over Aiken. For his career, he has scored 1,456 points.

Thompson averaged 19.5 points and 2.6 steals per game. She is the school’s all-time leading scorer and has 1,869 points going into Friday’s second-round playoff game.

Lou Bezjak

The State

(803) 771-8419

Lou Bezjak is the High School Sports Prep Coordinator for The (Columbia) State and (Hilton Head) Island Packet. He previously worked at the Florence Morning News and had covered high school sports in South Carolina since 2002. Lou is a two-time South Carolina Sports Writer of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Support my work with a digital subscription