Gamecocks basketball roster might not be set, with another grad transfer visit
South Carolina basketball coach Frank Martin has not completed his work in making over his roster for the 2018 season. Martin is still shopping the graduate transfer market and this weekend will host 6-foot-5 Brandon Alston who played the last two seasons at Lehigh and earned his degree in that time as well. This will be his first official visit and Alston said right now USC is the only school he’s looking at.
“In terms of other schools, I’m just focused on this visit with South Carolina. I’m just going to see how that goes and then after that I will decide who else I’m looking at.”
Alston said the connection with the Gamecocks goes back to connections in his hometown area of Northern Virginia with USC assistants Perry Clark and Bruce Shingler.
“They knew me through the networking up here in the DMV basketball community, so Coach Shingler reached out to me and had previously recruited me at Towson,” he said. “Coach Frank Martin was looking for an older guy with experience. He also recruited out of the DMV at Kansas State so he knows our playing style. From there he did his own research and we developed a relationship.”
Last season Alston averaged seven points and shot 46 percent from the floor, 35 percent from three and 72 percent from the line. With the loss of a big backcourt in Sindarius Thornwell, P.J. Dozier and Justin McKie, Alston said Martin is looking for size to replace those guys.
“Being a big guard and being able to dribble, shoot, get to the basket, play through contact, South Carolina plays a tough brand of basketball and he was able to see those things thru me,” Alston said. “Also, I graduated in three years so he knows that I have a good background and high character.”
Alston said he wants to hear what Martin has to say and then he’ll decide if he wants to do anything else with his recruiting. He also has offers from LSU, Georgia Tech, East Carolina, Pacific and Massachusetts.
“I just go after feel having gone thru this process before,” he said. “It’s getting late in the summer for me so I want to go to each place, see how it is and after that weight my options. I like the school (USC) a lot. Coach Martin has been great so we’ll see where I’m at after the visit.”
Alston said his parents and brother will join him on the visit and they plans to arrive at USC on Friday night. He will be eligible immediately and will have two years to play.
Notes:
▪ Irmo 2018 defensive end Trajan Jeffcoat and 2019 running back Kendrell Flowers visited Georgia Thursday. They were at Clemson on Wednesday and USC on Saturday.
▪ The Gamecocks offered 2020 wide receiver Dazalin Worsham of Trussville, Ala.
▪ Indianapolis2020 quarterback Roman Purcell was at USC’s camp Thursday.
▪ Edward Johnson, a 2019 defensive back from Montgomery, Ala., was at USC on Thursday.
This story was originally published June 9, 2017 at 10:32 AM with the headline "Gamecocks basketball roster might not be set, with another grad transfer visit."