What South Carolina’s signees are saying about USC’s hot start to SEC play
Recent conversations between Trey Anderson and his brother have become a tad heated.
Anderson, a South Carolina basketball signee, is the younger sibling to Dominick Wood-Anderson, a junior tight end at Tennessee. The Gamecocks, at 5-1, are the surprise hoops team of the SEC while the Volunteers, ranked No. 1 in the country, are the class of the league.
USC and UT are set to meet next Tuesday at Colonial Life Arena.
“I actually talked to him yesterday about it,” Trey Anderson told The State on Wednesday. “I said, ‘We’re going to have to beat you when we play you. We’re gonna have to get that win.’”
There’s a certain degree of confidence flowing from all levels of the Carolina program these days. The playing Gamecocks are rolling through January while the future Gamecocks are having fun watching it unfold.
“It’s great,” said Anderson, a 6-foot-7 shooting guard from California who signed to USC in November. “They’ve been working. The coaches have told me they’re really starting to come together and play as a team. They’re really believing in one another.”
Anderson, who’s taking a prep year this winter at Woodstock Academy in Connecticut, is joined by Hartsville’s Trae Hannibal and Maine’s Wildens Leveque in South Carolina’s 2019 recruiting class.
Hannibal has been a regular in Columbia, including a Monday stop at Eau Claire High School for the MLK Bash. The USC streak at that time was only five wins in six games.
“I hated that they lost to LSU,” Hannibal said. “But the win streak, I hope it brings out a bunch of fans to come support more. Them guys winning those games, that shows me a lot. They never give up. Coach Martin is a great coach. They’ll bounce back, they’ll keep winning.”
A day later, they did. USC beat No. 16 Auburn in front of a season-high 13,857 fans at CLA. A pair of 2021 in-state prospects — Josh Beadle (Cardinal Newman) and Tyler Rice (Ridge View) — were in the house on unofficial visits.
The Gamecocks, 4-7 on Christmas, are now 10-8 entering a Saturday trip to Oklahoma State (8-10).
“That definitely just tells me that they fight through adversity,” Anderson said. “Even losing the first couple of games, just being able to come back and be 5-1, that’s as good as it gets. They definitely just learned how to face adversity.”
Anderson, who said he’s averaging around nine points a game for undefeated Woodstock, is a keen observer of A.J. Lawson.
“I definitely would like to shape my game after A.J.,” Anderson said of Carolina’s star freshman. “I just like how he’s very versatile. He can go to the basket, he can shoot it, play defense. He works really hard on both ends.
“That’s definitely one of the players I would like to shape my game after.”
Lawson, who leads the Gamecocks in scoring and assists, is one of two rookies helping with the Carolina turnaround. The other, Keyshawn Bryant, had six points over a team-high 35 minutes in the Auburn win.
“The freshmen,” Hannibal said, “they’re stepping up big. Me going in, I want to do the same thing they’re doing.”
Hannibal is averaging 26 points, nine rebounds and four assists per game for Hartsville. Leveque, according to his coach at Gould Academy, had a 20-point, 20-rebound game last month.
“I can’t wait to play with them,” Anderson said. “I love their game, I love the way they play. They’re two really hard workers, I heard. I just can’t wait to play with them.”
