Another South Carolina player leaving basketball program via transfer portal
South Carolina basketball is losing a second player to the transfer portal.
Former Ridge View High standout Ja’Von Benson has entered the transfer portal, a source close to the program confirmed to The State on Monday.
Monday was the first day that the NCAA transfer portal officially opened again. It’s open for 60 days. Benson joined junior center Tre-Vaughn Minott in making plans to leave USC.
Benson was part of the 2020 signing class with Minott and A.C. Flora’s Patrick Iriel. All three are no longer with the program. (Iriel left the program just before the 2020-21 season began. Minott enrolled midseason.)
Benson appeared in 15 games across three seasons with the Gamecocks, including six this year. He didn’t travel with the team to the Southeastern Conference Tournament last week.
The 6-foot-7 forward averaged 1.9 points and three rebounds in his career.
Benson was a standout for Ridge View and was part of two straight Class 4A championship teams. He averaged 17.5 points and 11.2 rebounds per game as a senior en route to Class 4A Player of the Year honors.
The USC roster will lose Hayden Brown to graduation, along with Benson and Minott’s departures. It’s expected that GG Jackson also will leave for NBA Draft, but he hasn’t announced anything. Players have until 60 days before the draft to declare their intentions.
The Gamecocks have signed two players for the Class of 2023 in Westwood’s Arden Conyers and Wasatch Academy’s Collin Murray-Boyles, a Columbia native who transferred during his senior year of high school.
This story was originally published March 13, 2023 at 5:23 PM.
