South Carolina, Lamont Paris land pair of recruits from Finland
South Carolina men’s basketball is getting some Nordic flair.
Gamecocks coach Lamont Paris landed commitments from Finnish prospects Morris Ugusuk and Okku Federiko on Thursday morning. The pair took official visits to USC in March.
The two made their announcement at Omnia Academy in Finland, where they are teammates and rising seniors.
Ugusuk had previously taken official visits to Oklahoma State and Duquesne, while Federiko had also visited Duquesne. Both players held offers from Pittsburgh, where Federiko’s brother currently plays.
Ugusuk will be part of the 2023 class while Federiko, whose brother plays at Pittsburgh, is in the Class of 2024.
A 6-foot-4 guard, Ugusuk averaged 12.3 points, 4.6 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game for HBA-Marsky Helsinki during the 2022-23 season. He averaged similar numbers for Panterrit Helsinki the year prior — posting per-game averages of 12 points, 2.8 assists and 2.8 rebounds.
Federiko, a 6-foot-8 forward, pieced together 7.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and three assists per game for Panterrit this past season.
The Gamecocks are in the process of putting the finishing touches on their 2023 class. South Carolina has already signed Minnesota point guard Ta’Lon Cooper, Vanderbilt forward Myles Stute and Citadel forward Stephen Clark, along with high school signees Collin Murray-Boyles and Arden Conyers.
Murray-Boyles has been a late-riser in the 2023 class, jumping up to four-star status, per the 247Sports Composite. He’s currently rated as the No. 96 player in the class across all major recruiting services, but was most recently slotted at No. 60 by ESPN.
USC also is in a good position to land Wofford transfer BJ Mack, who took an official visit to Columbia last weekend. Mack is announcing his choice on May 4. The 6-foot-8 forward from Charlotte averaged 16.8 points and 5.6 rebounds last year for the Terriers.
South Carolina finished its first season under head coach Lamont Paris 11-21 and 4-14 in Southeastern Conference play.
This story was originally published April 27, 2023 at 10:24 AM.
