Why Cam Scott, USC’s top freshman, is spending so much time on the bench
Freshman Cam Scott has been a part of the rocky South Carolina basketball experience this season. In fact, he’s been there for all of it. Well, most of it. From the sidelines, at least.
Scott, a highly touted four-star recruit and the fourth-highest-rated recruit in Gamecocks history, hasn’t exactly taken the college scene by storm. Instead, he’s finding his way through the highs and lows of his first college season. His stat line? A modest 3.0 points and 1.6 rebounds per game on 25.9% shooting. He hasn’t had a double-digit scoring game yet.
Early on, it looked like Scott might carve out a consistent role. He played 21 and 18 minutes in the first two games and averaged 14.6 minutes across the season’s first seven. But as the competition heated up, those numbers cooled down. Over the last eight games, he’s seen just 10.6 minutes a night.
Scott played just six minutes in Wednesday’s 88-68 loss to No. 5 Alabama, even with starter Myles Stute sidelined. Instead, those minutes went mostly to redshirt freshman Arden Conyers.
“He may not be playing the minutes he wants to play, but he’s staying the course. And he’s always ready when his number’s called,” senior Nick Pringle said.
Other minutes that might’ve gone to Scott are instead landing with sophomore Morris Ugusuk. Ugusuk, who played just 18 total minutes in the first two games, has played 20+ minutes in 11 of the other 13 games this season — essentially switching places with Scott.
But why?
Scott’s clearly talented. He was one of the top players in the country, winning the South Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year twice. He had offers from Kansas, Tennessee, Alabama and Auburn before eventually signing to Texas and changing his mind for South Carolina.
A guy like this is clearly headed to the NBA, right? Another player at USC for a year, maybe two like Collin Murray-Boyles and GG Jackson, who both had much more immediate impacts under head coach Lamont Paris.
Murray-Boyles, who also came in as a four-star recruit, didn’t debut immediately last season because of mononucleosis. But by his 15th game of the season, he averaged 6.5 points and 4.1 rebounds on 50.7% shooting. From there, he elevated his scoring to nearly 15 points a game through the rest of the season and is now the No. 1 option for USC as a sophomore.
Jackson, a five-star recruit, led the team in scoring as a freshman with 15.4 points per game and went one-and-done.
By comparison, Scott’s transition has been quieter. But if you think he’s sulking about it, think again. Instead, Scott is using his time in practice to sharpen his game — and that includes some extra reps with the scout team.
Now the scout team isn’t everyone’s dream assignment, but Scott’s making it work. Paris praised the freshman’s approach, saying: “A kid is going to look at that one of two ways, and he’s really looked at it the right way. He’s been able to portray some really good players.”
Scout team reps aren’t just about mimicking opponents. For Scott, it’s been a chance to rediscover his offensive rhythm. With freedom to play without overthinking, he’s finding his confidence. It showed when he dropped a season-high nine points on 3-of-7 shooting against Radford. Those seven shots were his most since he took 12 against SC State in the second game of the year.
“He’s not worried about trying to do the right thing or not trying to do the right thing,” Paris explained of Scott’s mindset with the scout team. “You go out there, and you have carte blanche to do what you want as a basketball player. That’s been good for him.”
Pringle added, “I feel like he’s definitely going to have some type of breakout soon.”
Even in limited action, though, Paris said he views Scott as an integral part of his vision for the Gamecocks. That’s why he also made it a focus to spend more one-on-one time with him over the winter break, something more difficult to do during the season.
Paris is juggling several factors when it comes to Scott’s minutes: How’s he playing? How’s the game going? Who can Scott guard? Who will he have to guard? It’s a balancing act, and it takes a bit more than potential to tip the scales.
Even so, Paris said Scott will always see the floor.
“He’s going to be a good player,” Paris said. “He’s growing and getting better. We just go from game to game, see what it looks like.”
