South Carolina adds basketball signee who ‘plays with a brute force’
Frank Martin and the South Carolina men’s basketball team could use another big man — especially after the sudden departure of freshman forward Patrick Iriel.
Enter Ta’Quan Woodley.
The 6-foot-8, 240-pound forward from Camden, New Jersey signed with the Gamecocks on Wednesday, announcing the decision after breaking a commitment to Penn State in late October.
“We are super excited to add Ta’Quan Woodley to our signing class,” Martin said in an official statement. “He is a 6-foot-8, 240-pound skilled forward who plays with tremendous aggression and strength. He is a high-profile player who had been committed to Penn State, and when Patrick Iriel made his decision it made us as coaches understand that we needed to get depth at the front line.”
Woodley joins a 2021 signing class that includes guards Devin Carter and Jacobi Wright, who signed with USC on the first day of the November early signing period. All three players rank as three-star prospects in the 247Sports Composite, with Woodley ranking as the seventh-best recruit in the state of New Jersey.
Woodley reopened his recruitment shortly after Penn State head coach Pat Chambers announced his resignation on Oct. 21. Chamber resigned following an internal investigation into his conduct, prompted by a July report by The Undefeated.
Woodley’s availability proved fortuitous for the Gamecocks, who lost Iriel due to a personal, non-basketball-related decision to withdraw from school.
“Ta’Quan is someone we had recruited earlier, and when he made himself available we jumped on it right away,” Martin said. “He is a high-level rebounder, who plays with exceptional strength and skill offensively. Ta’Quan understands how to pass, how to score and plays with a brute force that is much needed for our team.”
This story was originally published November 18, 2020 at 5:35 PM.
