Andy Katz: South Carolina’s Chris Silva could be SEC Player of the Year if ...
As voted by the league’s coaches, eight players made first-team All-SEC last season in men’s basketball. Only two of them are back for 2018-19 — Tennessee’s Grant Williams and South Carolina’s Chris Silva.
Silva tested the NBA waters, but chose to return to USC for his senior year. What’s to follow could be historic.
Silva in 2017-18 became the second Gamecock in program history to be named the league’s defensive player of the year. No Gamecock has ever left the program with an SEC DPOY and an overall player of the year.
Andy Katz thinks the latter can happen this upcoming season — should a few things develop.
The former ESPN writer who now serves as the lead hoops scribe on NCAA.com addressed the topic on Wednesday as one of his 14 storylines surrounding the SEC.
“Could South Carolina’s Chris Silva be the SEC player of the year?” Katz asked. “There’s a chance. If the Gamecocks can get the scoring they need on the perimeter and solid point guard play, then Silva could be free to put up monster numbers. Silva has seen his numbers climb each of his three seasons. He has done what most players do under Frank Martin — continued to improve. His rebounding numbers got better each of his first three seasons. He knows how to handle the rigors of the SEC. If the Gamecocks can compete for an NCAA tournament berth, then Silva will be the reason and in the mix for the player of the year honor.”
Katz also released his preseason SEC poll, slotting USC ninth as a team “on the bubble” for the NCAA Tournament. This differs slightly from Jon Rothstein’s preseason poll that has the Gamecocks 10th in the league.
Silva has a chance to lead the Gamecocks in scoring and rebounding two consecutive seasons. That hasn’t happened in Columbia since Carlos Powell did from 2003-05. Silva’s seventh in school history in career blocks and free throw attempts, and fifth in free throws made. He’ll easily crack the top 10 in career rebounds and games played. He’s 482 points away from cracking the top 10 in scoring.
As Katz alluded to, it’ll likely be the pieces around Silva that will define his and USC’s 2018-19 campaign.
Top candidates to provide perimeter scoring are sophomore Justin Minaya and freshmen A.J. Lawson and Jermaine Couisnard. Tre Campbell, a graduate transfer from Georgetown, is the leader for point guard duties.