‘Roster stability.’ It’s the reason Frank Martin is encouraged about USC’s future
Attrition happened, sure, but what Frank Martin liked is that he had a good nucleus of players to work with, an experienced bunch set up to take the next step toward consistent production for South Carolina basketball.
“And that was the roster going from the 17-win third year into the 25-win fourth year,” Martin said.
The Gamecocks went 17-16 in 2014-15, good enough for their first winning season in six years. What happened next was unprecedented in these parts: School-record 25 wins in 2015-16 followed by the school’s first trip to the Final Four in 2016-17.
Sindarius Thornwell and Duane Notice were main characters for all three years while Michael Carrera, Mindaugas Kacinas and Laimonas Chatkevicius (2014-16) and P.J. Dozier and Chris Silva (2015-17) played major parts in two.
“Roster stability,” a term Martin used this week, helped the Gamecocks power through that time with relative success.
On Wednesday, National Signing Day and over 950 days since South Carolina last appeared in the NCAA Tournament, Martin announced the Gamecocks have returned to having roster stability.
“I think our roster’s in a place right now where there’s stability,” said USC’s eighth-year coach. “And I’m happy with the class breakdown. I’m happy with the number of point guards. The way we play, you got to have to have multiple players at the bigs and multiple players at the point guard. And you got to have interchangeable wings.
“I think we got that again.”
Columbia products Patrick Iriel and Ja’Von Benson make up South Carolina’s 2020 class. Stars for A.C. Flora and Ridge View this season, the two forwards will begin as contributing pieces for the Gamecocks next season. USC is guaranteed to lose two bigs in Maik Kotsar and Micaiah Henry at the end of 2019-20, opening room for the 6-foot-10 Iriel and 6-8 Benson.
The current South Carolina team, off to a historic defensive start, can move to 3-0 with a win over Cleveland State on Friday. Meanwhile, future Gamecock teams are already taking shape. Here’s a look ahead:
2020-21
Scholarship players by class: Two seniors (Jair Bolden, Seventh Woods), four juniors (Keyshawn Bryant, Alanzo Frink, A.J. Lawson, Justin Minaya), six sophomores (Trey Anderson, Jermaine Couisnard, Trae Hannibal, Wildens Leveque, Jalyn McCreary, T.J. Moss), two freshmen (Ja’Von Benson, Patrick Iriel)
Point guards: Bolden, Woods, Moss, Hannibal
Shooting guards: Couisnard, Lawson
Wings: Minaya, Bryant, Anderson
Power forwards/centers: Frink, McCreary, Leveque, Benson, Iriel
Notes: Obviously one of the above players can’t be on next season’s roster as it would put South Carolina over the 13-scholarship limit. Why it’s too early to speculate about possible transfers, it’s not crazy to think Lawson departs early for the NBA Draft. Such a move would take away a top scorer, but there’s enough guard depth for the Gamecocks to recover. Bolden and Moss, capable shooters, can both play off-the-ball.
2021-22
Scholarship players by class: Three seniors (Bryant, Frink, Minaya), six juniors (Anderson, Couisnard, Hannibal, Leveque, McCreary, Moss), two sophomores (Benson, Iriel)
Point guards: Moss, Hannibal
Shooting guards: Couisnard
Wings: Minaya, Bryant, Anderson
Power forwards/centers: Frink, McCreary, Leveque, Benson, Iriel
Notes: This is under the assumption Lawson has indeed moved on to the next level by this point. Even in his absence — and even with three open scholarships that will be filled — Martin potentially has a talented core of Bryant, Minaya and Couisnard playing together for a third straight season. While post depth is solid, the next recruiting move is to target guards. South Carolina is already looking at Cardinal Newman’s Joshua Beadle, Ridge View’s Tyler Rice, Wren’s Bryce McGowens and Lower Richland’s Korey Richardson, among others.
CLEVELAND STATE AT SOUTH CAROLINA
Where: Colonial Life Arena
When: 7 p.m. Friday
TV: SEC Network Plus via the WatchESPN app
Radio: 107.5 The Game in Columbia area
Projected starting lineups
Cleveland State (1-2)
G Tre Gomillion 11.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg
G Franklyn Penn Jr. 8.5 rpg, 4.5 rpg
G Kasheem Thomas 8.5 pgg, 2.5 rpg
F Deante Johnson 8.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg
F Torrey Patton 11.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg
South Carolina (2-0)
G Jair Bolden 12.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg
G A.J. Lawson 10.0 ppg, 3.0 apg
F Justin Minaya 10.0 ppg, 7.5 rpg
F Alanzo Frink 8.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg
F Maik Kotsar 4.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg
This story was originally published November 14, 2019 at 1:09 PM.
