Northeast big man becomes South Carolina’s first signee in 2019 class

A year later, South Carolina is busy this week.

Wildens Leveque, a 6-foot-10, 230-pound forward, signed his letter of intent to the Gamecocks on Wednesday, the first day of the early signing period. Trae Hannibal, a 6-2 point guard, is scheduled to do the same Thursday at Hartsville High School, giving USC two official members in its 2019 class.

South Carolina didn’t sign its first player in the ‘18 class until last April. That five-man group was finalized in June with Canada’s A.J. Lawson.

Leveque is a three-star prospect who is from Massachusetts but attends Gould Academy in Maine. He picked the Gamecocks over pursuit from VCU and UMass, among others.

The Carolina staff views Leveque as a potential replacement for Chris Silva. He averaged 14 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks per game for Gould last season.

“He’s a big man that wants to be a big man and is willing to surrender and be coached,” said Gould coach Cory McClure. “The beauty of him is he has no delusions of being anything other than a big man. Really refreshing from that perspective.

“With us and with his (AAU) group, he’s developed a shot-blocking, rim-protecting presence. Has really good timing there. His defensive instincts have improved tremendously in the last 18 months.”

Leveque played AAU ball for Tim Nelson and the Mass Rivals program.

“We’ve watched a lot of video on Chris Silva and when you watch him, it looks like what Wildens is striving to become,” Nelson said. “He’s got all that. He can run it, he can catch it, he’s a big presence inside so if it’s around the rim, it’s definitely a dunk.”