Gamecocks MBB loses fifth player to transfer portal, report says
South Carolina just lost its fifth player of the offseason to NCAA transfer portal on the eve of its opening.
Christ Essandoko intends to enter the transfer portal, per 247Sports’ Travis Branham. The portal doesn’t officially open until Tuesday and will remain open for players to enter until April 21.
Essandoko played one season at USC, averaging 2.0 points and 1.6 rebounds in 7.4 minutes per game. He made previous stops at St. Joseph’s and Providence before joining the Gamecocks. The French 7-footer has one season of eligibility remaining.
The rising redshirt senior told The State after USC’s loss to Oklahoma in the SEC Tournament on March 11 that he would be open to a return to USC for his final season.
“I would love to. I would not want to go somewhere else, especially with coach Paris coming back, I feel like it could be great. But we’ll have the end of the year meetings and figure out how it all works. My decision, I would not want to go somewhere else,” he said.
USC announced March 10 head coach Lamont Paris would return for a fifth season with the Gamecocks. Paris led USC to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2024 but has since led the Gamecocks to two sub-.500 seasons and six SEC wins in two seasons.
Essandoko is the fifth USC player to announce their plans to transfer. The Gamecocks have five players with additional eligibility who have yet to officially announce their intentions. Five USC players played their last college season this year.
South Carolina men’s basketball 2026-27 roster outlook
Out of eligibility
- Meechie Johnson, G
- Nordin Kapic, F
- Kobe Knox, G
- Mike Sharavjamts, G
- Myles Stute, G
In the portal
- Jordan Butler, F
- Eli Ellis, G
- Christ Essandoko, F
- Elijah Strong, F
- EJ Walker, F
No announcement yet
- Hayden Assemian, F
- Grant Polk, G
- Cam Scott, G
- Eli Sparkman, G
- Abu Yarmah, G
This story was originally published April 6, 2026 at 4:49 PM.