South Carolina men’s basketball again predicted to finish last in SEC this season
South Carolina men’s basketball was picked to finish last in this season’s SEC preseason media poll released Tuesday.
The Gamecocks 11-21 (4-14 SEC) finished the 2022-23 season 12th among the 14 teams in the conference in Lamont Paris’ first year as head coach. They were also predicted to finish last by SEC media a season ago.
Tennessee was predicted to win the league this year in a vote from select Southeastern Conference media members.
USC had seven players leave the program at the end of last season: Five entered the transfer portal, GG Jackson declared for the NBA Draft and Hayden Brown finished his collegiate eligibility.
Since last season, South Carolina added nine players to the roster, including two SEC transfers and three from the Big 10.
No Gamecock was selected to the preseason All-SEC teams. Texas A&M’s Wade Taylor IV was voted as the preseason player of the year.
The Gamecocks host their exhibition games Nov. 1 against Wofford before opening the regular season against USC Upstate on Nov. 6. Conference play begins Jan. 6 against Mississippi State.
SEC predicted order of finish
1. Tennessee
2. Texas A&M
3. Arkansas
4. Kentucky
5. Alabama
6. Auburn
7. Mississippi State
8. Florida
9. Missouri
10. Ole Miss
11. Vanderbilt
12. Georgia
13. LSU
14. South Carolina
SEC preseason Player of the Year
Wade Taylor IV Texas A&M
Preseason All-SEC first team
Grant Nelson, Alabama
Trevon Brazile, Arkansas
Johni Broome, Auburn
Justin Edwards, Kentucky
Tolu Smith, Mississippi State
Santiago Vescovi, Tennessee
Wade Taylor IV, Texas A&M
Preseason All-SEC second team
Mark Sears, Alabama
Davonte Davis, Arkansas
Riley Kugel, Florida
Antonio Reeves, Kentucky
Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee
This story was originally published October 17, 2023 at 2:19 PM.
