He’s South Carolina’s least-used freshman. Why his role might increase soon
All told, South Carolina men’s basketball is getting solid contributions from three of its freshmen.
The trio of Wildens Leveque, Jalyn McCreary and Trae Hannibal are all averaging between 10 and 12.6 minutes per game. In conference play, each has seen steady rotation roles for the most part. But there’s one other member of the class, Trey Anderson, who hasn’t seen all that much playing time.
But that could change soon.
USC coach Frank Martin was mentioning players who need to step up with McCreary sidelined by a head injury. He talked about going a little smaller and maybe letting Anderson, who has played all of 22 minutes this season, get his feet wet this week against Mississippi State.
“Down Justin (Minaya), everyone slides over a seat,” Martin said. “Now that we’re down Justin and Jalyn, everyone slides over another seat. He’s grown as a player. He’s got the ability to shoot. He rebounds the ball. He’s active. Defensively, he hasn’t been as consistent as I’d like him to be, but neither have a couple of other guys.”
Minaya is the team’s starting small forward, who is out indefinitely with a thumb injury that required surgery.
Anderson hasn’t taken the court in a close game yet this season, seeing the most time in a blowout win of Cleveland State and a 23-point loss to Wichita State. He’s missed all seven shots he’s taken and made a pair of free throws.
But the 6-foot-6, 203-pounder might offer the Gamecocks something they’re short on at times: shooting. He averaged 16.7 points and a team-best 7.4 rebounds per game as a high school senior and spent a year in prep school.
His teammates have seen him come through the growing pains of any freshman, learning the system and what is asked by the coaches.
“He’s gotten a lot better,” guard Jair Bolden said. “He’s picking up things that he wasn’t picking up. He’s always been really talented, so just kind of being able to show that.”
Hannibal, a classmate who is averaging 17 minutes a game in the past seven games, added, “Just from bringing it in practice, you can see he wants to play. ... I know when his number is called, he’s going to be ready.”
Martin praised Anderson’s activity, but said his ball handling and defensive consistency are areas to work on.
Should he play, his first assignment won’t be easy. The Bulldogs are a massive team, starting only one player shorter than 6-foot-6. This projects to be one of South Carolina’s two hardest games the rest of the way.
“Why not?” Martin said. “Throw him out there. We believed in him to offer him a scholarship. He practices really hard every day. Throw him out there, see what happens. Let him go out there and get his feet wet.
“He helps us in practice. Let’s give him the opportunity to help us in games.”
