South Carolina veteran Meechie Johnson misses Friday’s game against Elon
The Gamecocks were without their star guard just as the nonconference slate starts to wrap up.
Meechie Johnson was in street clothes prior to tip off of South Carolina’s game against Elon on Friday night and did not play. USC officially ruled him out with a right knee injury and said his status is day-to-day.
South Carolina won 70-43.
“It’s for precautionary reasons,” head coach Lamont Paris told Derek Scott on the 107.5 FM pregame radio show. “He’s had a little pain in one of his knees. ... He won’t play today and we’ll do some things to get him back as quickly as we can.”
Johnson has been a key piece in USC’s lineup this season, averaging a team-high 18.3 points per game. He’s had five 20-plus point games this season, including against Winthrop on Tuesday. Johnson hasn’t missed a game this season, and played in all but two games last season.
Paris said postgame against Elon that Johnson had some inflammation and had an MRI and X-ray done, but there was “nothing structural” that raises concern. He didn’t give any timeline for Johnson’s return.
USC has a week off from games before facing Florida A&M on Dec. 30 and an additional week off after that before SEC play begins Jan. 6.
This story was originally published December 22, 2023 at 5:32 PM.
