Felder remains suspended; tight end Hinson will join hoops team

South Carolina freshman Rakym Felder remains indefinitely suspended after his arrest last week.

“Whenever that changes, I’ll speak about it,” coach Frank Martin said on Thursday.

Felder, a freshman from Brooklyn who played his first year of high school at Indian Land, was charged with six offenses, including simple assault, on Oct. 24. As per USC athletic department policy, he was immediately suspended from all team activities.

It has been reported that Felder has retained Neal Lourie as his attorney. Lourie did not immediately return a call seeking comment. All of the charges are misdemeanors.

Martin’s bulging eight-man recruiting class will add another player after football season. Freshman tight end Evan Hinson, who is redshirting this year, will join the team after football concludes.

“He’s actually practiced more than Bruce (Ellington) would have at this time of the year, because he’s redshirting,” Martin said. “He’s a pretty good basketball player.”

Hinson averaged 23.5 points per game as a junior, when he was named the Daytona Beach News-Journal’s Player of the Year, and 20.6 points as a senior, when he was named Male Athlete of the Year by the newspaper. A first-team all-state basketball player as a senior, Hinson signed with USC with the intent of playing both sports.

Football coach Will Muschamp is fine with it and Hinson, because of practicing but not playing football, has been able to practice with the basketball team some days. Because he is on scholarship for football, he’ll stick with the team until the season is over.

With the Gamecocks back in contention for a bowl game, he could be with them through December. But he could join the basketball team in time for the SEC season.

Hinson is a 6-foot-4 guard.

Freshman forward Sedee Keita will not play in Sunday’s exhibition due to a wrist injury.

“Sedee’s close,” Martin said. “The vision is for him to start engaging, preparing for the following weekend. Will he play or not that weekend? I don’t have that answer yet.”

The men’s team will play Newberry in the second half of an exhibition doubleheader on Sunday. The USC women’s team plays Benedict at 1:30 p.m., with the men’s tipoff set for 4:30 p.m.

The games are free and open to the public at Colonial Life Arena. The games will not be broadcast on TV or radio.

This story was originally published November 3, 2016 at 1:37 PM with the headline "Felder remains suspended; tight end Hinson will join hoops team."