South Carolina MBB freshman reverses redshirt decision. Lamont Paris explains
South Carolina men’s basketball gained an active player nine games into the 2025-26 season.
Freshman forward EJ Walker made his first appearance as a Gamecock in an 82-51 win Saturday against Stetson, meaning he is officially no longer redshirting this season. USC head coach Lamont Paris initially said Walker would voluntarily sit out the season.
Paris said he decided to burn Walker’s redshirt after a few weeks of discussion among USC staff, Walker and his family.
“I said it in jest maybe the first time, and then I said it again, and then I started saying it to my assistant coaches. … And apparently he had said something to his parents also. His dad’s a high school basketball coach, so I told one of my assistant coaches, I said, ‘Call his dad. Just call and tell him what I’m seeing and what I keep saying on a regular basis,’” Paris said. “Couple weeks go by, and then it’s no longer just calling to tell him that, it’s like, let’s see if this is something that everyone would be interested in doing.”
Walker was seen dressed to play before the game against the Hokies. He never subbed into Tuesday’s game, but got in the game vs. the Hatters in the first half. He finished with 2 points on 1-for-2 shooting in 13 minutes.
One of five freshmen on the Gamecocks’ roster this season, Walker was a three-star prospect and the No. 2 player in Kentucky for the 2025 class. He holds the record at Lloyd Memorial High School for points (1,922) and rebounds (1,196).
“We knew he was thinking about it. I was like, ‘I won’t lie, man, this is your opportunity, and you work hard, and you deserve it,’” fellow freshman Eli Ellis said. “So he’s going to get the opportunity.”
USC now has 13 active players on its roster. Freshman guard Abu Yarmah and sophomore Cam Scott are both redshirting this season and are unavailable unless they choose to burn their redshirts.
“I’m going to try to make an opportunity present itself for him most every game, and then at some point, he’ll be playing well, or he won’t be playing well,” Paris said. “And if he’s playing well, he’ll play more, if he’s not playing well, he’ll play a little bit less at some point.”
