'I've always respected him as a player.' Frank Martin on latest crop of USC signees

Frank Martin has now held two formal news conferences since the end of the 2017-18 season. The 40-plus minute sessions provided insight on a variety of things South Carolina basketball, including the introduction of six new players.

Martin on May 9 spoke to the signed additions of Jermaine Couisnard, Alanzo Frink and T.J. Moss. Over a month later, Martin had another trio to analyze as Tre Campbell, Keyshawn Bryant and Jair Bolden have now officially joined the USC roster.

Martin on Tre Campbell, a 6-foot-2 point guard and graduate transfer from Georgetown who averaged 3.7 points in his Hoyas career: "Very good player. I watched him play a ton when he was in high school. Very good player in high school, went to Georgetown, didn’t visit anywhere else, played a ton of games for Georgetown.

Just like we did with Frank Booker last year, I’m not going to sit here and try to figure out, 'Well, he averaged 3 points a game, so he’s not very good, he’s a stop-gap.' I’m not into that. I think the way he plays fits who we are. I like his demeanor. I’ve always respected him as a player. And he’s a point guard.

Rather than worry about his stats and all that, he had to play in the structure that Georgetown played in. Remember, they used to play … (former Hoyas coach John Thompson III) ran a version of the Princeton offense, which means you have to sacrifice to play in structure. ... Unlike the new wave of thinking, life is not about just showing up and doing whatever you want to do. It’s about co-existing and structure with other talented people. And he’s shown he’s willing to do that. So I get excited about that."

Martin on Keyshawn Bryant, a 6-7 wing from Winter Haven, Florida: "Key’s a dynamic player. Been under the radar for a while. If you guys pay attention to recruiting, I couldn’t take Key if Brian (Bowen) was going to be here. It wouldn’t have been fair to him or Brian. So we were waiting – and he waited – on the whole Brian situation to get cleared up. And once Brian made his decision, then obviously we had a necessity for a big wing and we pushed in his direction.

But high-flyer, athletic. Has to learn how to trust his shot. Some guys shoot it and it’s ugly. He shoots it and it looks good, but he’s so in a get-to-the-rim kind of mindset that he’s got to learn how to trust his shot.

Martin on Jair Bolden, a 6-4 guard and traditional transfer from George Washington who will sit the upcoming season and be eligible for play in 2019-20: "I’m excited about Jair. Point guard, can play the 2. Has played major minutes just like Tre.

I get it, he’s not going to play until the following year, you’re right. I hope you guys heard all I spoke about when we got Brian back out here in January and Rah Felder back and those guys came back around – and Duane Notice – I spoke about a lot about practice. I get it, everyone talks about games because that’s what everybody’s privy to. The matchups in practice is where guys get better.

So now we take T.J. or Jermaine, they’re dealing with a guy who’s played 65 college games and not just been on the bench clapping. Like, he’s been on the court. They’re dealing with that guy every day in practice. There’s a maturity, there’s an attention to detail, there’s an excitement that those older guys bring to the table every day that makes young guys learn how to do things and have to compete at a higher level. That’s going to be in place."

This story was originally published June 25, 2018 at 9:04 AM with the headline "'I've always respected him as a player.' Frank Martin on latest crop of USC signees."