Frank Martin, Gamecocks offer hometown guard from championship program
Keenan High School’s Jazian Gortman is a name to watch on the state of South Carolina high school basketball scene the next few years.
Gortman had a big sophomore season at Keenan and had a strong summer despite limited AAU events because of the coronavirus.
The University of South Carolina extended an offer to the 6-foot-2 guard on Friday. The Gamecocks are the first Southeastern Conference school to offer and second Power 5 offer, joining Wake Forest. Middle Tennessee, East Tennessee State, South Carolina State and Appalachian State also have offered.
“It means a lot to be offered by a school in my hometown,” Gortman said.
Gortman has some family ties to USC. His aunt, Shaunzinski Gortman, played at South Carolina and was first USC women’s player taken in the 2002 WNBA Draft when she was picked ninth overall by the Charlotte Sting.
247Sports ranks Gortman as the third best prospect in South Carolina for the Class of 2022, which includes nationally-ranked prospect Julian Phlllips of Blythewood and Perry Smith of Legacy Charter. All three now have USC offers.
Gortman averaged 17 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 2.0 assists this season in helping the Raiders to the Class 3A state title. He went for a career-high 32 points against Greenville in the Poinsettia Classic in December, then scored 25 points and hit the game-winning shot against Cardinal Newman at the MLK Bash in January.
Gortman scored 13 in the 55-32 win over Wade Hampton in the 3A title game on March 7.
“He has a lot of upside to him. I think he has potential to play in the pros one day,” Keenan coach Zach Norris said of Gortman. “He is very elecitifying, can do the trick shots and can really shoot the ball. He can get to the basket and has plenty of potential if he keeps maturing. Defensively, he has come a long way and has great knowledge of the game.
“I love watching him play because he is going to do something different every day.”
Norris thought Gortman really came on strong during the Raiders’ postseason run. He had 13 points in the championship game against Wade Hampton.
Gortman plays the No. 2 guard position but Norris said he played some at point guard near the end of the season and thinks he could do both in college.
Gortman is playing this summer for the Palmetto City Hurricanes AAU team and had a strong showing and caught the attention of ESPN recruiting analyst Paul Biancardi at the Big Shots event last week in Myrtle Beach.
“Changes direction low and quick, rises up for the mid-range, drops 3s & operates with vision in ball screens,” Biancardi posted on his Twitter page.
This story was originally published July 24, 2020 at 2:54 PM.
