Gamecocks lose starting guard, local player to transfer portal
The South Carolina men’s basketball is losing a fifth player to the transfer portal, and it’s the most impactful departure yet in terms of statistics.
Senior guard Chico Carter Jr. will enter the portal, a team spokesperson confirmed to The State. VerbalCommits.com and On3 Sports were the first to report Carter’s transfer earlier Monday.
Carter, a Columbia native who started his college career at Murray State, started all 25 games he played for USC in 2022-23 and was fourth on the team with 9.8 points per game.
Carter, who transferred to South Carolina ahead of the 2021-22 season, also shot a team-high 47.6% on 3-pointers (49 of 103) this year. He is the fifth South Carolina player to enter the transfer portal since coach Lamont Paris’ first season ended at 11-21 (4-14 SEC).
Carter was a decorated local player at Columbia’s Cardinal Newman School. The 6-foot-3 guard averaged 24.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game as a senior and led the Cardinals to a 2019 SCISA state championship. Carter also graduated as Cardinal Newman’s all-time leading scorer with 1,868 points.
After starting South Carolina’s first 25 games of the season, Carter missed the final six games of 2022-23, including a season-ending SEC Tournament loss to Ole Miss, with knee tendinitis.
USC’s other four confirmed transfers were forward Tre-Vaughn Minott, forward Ja’Von Benson, walk-on guard Ford Cooper and freshman forward Daniel Hankins-Sanford. Veteran forward Hayden Brown, a transfer from The Citadel, will also leave the program after exhausting his playing eligibility.
The Gamecocks are bringing in two local high school signees: forward Collin Murray-Boyles (formerly of A.C. Flora High) and forward Arden Conyers (Westwood).
South Carolina currently has four open scholarship spots.
Star USC freshman forward GG Jackson also hasn’t publicly announced his plans for the 2023 season. Jackson, a former five-star recruit and SEC All-Freshman Team selection, averaged a team-high 15.4 points per game this season and could return to USC for his 2023-24 sophomore year, transfer or declare for the NBA Draft.
This story was originally published March 20, 2023 at 4:11 PM.
