7-footer among USC men’s basketball official visitors this weekend

South Carolina basketball coach Frank Martin is recruiting to fill a spot on his staff, and he’s busy trying to fill holes on his roster. This weekend he’s scheduled to have three players in for official visits:

▪  6-foot-2 point guard Kory Holden, who is a transfer from Delaware;

▪  6-foot-2 shooting guard Hassani Gravett of Pensacola State College; and

▪  7-foot-1 center Khadim Gueye of Bradenton, Fla.

Holden also plans to visit Seton Hall unofficially next week and Baylor officially at the end of the month. He will have to sit out next season wherever he goes.

Gravett is a native of Villa Rica, Ga., where he was the Georgia 4A Player of the Year as a senior. He signed with Gardner-Webb but enrolled at Hargrave Prep in Virginia. From there he landed at Pensacola State College, where he earned all-conference honors this season after averaging 16 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists per game. He was named the Panhandle Conference Player of the Year.

Gueye is a classic post player, according to his coach at Victory Rock Prep, Loren Jackson. He primarily is a defender and rebounder who still needs work on his offensive game, but he does run the floor well and is a good passer.

“He’s very comfortable with the ball,” the coach said.

Plus, at 240 pounds, Jackson said Gueye is hard to move out of the lane.

Gueye is a native of of Senegal who came to the United States for basketball and academics, and his coach feels he has a bright future on the court.

“He has a chance to be a professional basketball player,” Jackson said.

The connection to USC is through assistant coach Perry Clark. Jackson has known Clark for several years since Clark was the coach at Tulane and had one of Jackson’s players. Clark has been down several times to scout Gueye.

Gueye has visited South Florida and Long Beach State and will also visit Arizona State before making his decision. One possible advantage for Long Beach is that Jackson’s son has signed with the 49ers.

This story was originally published April 14, 2016 at 6:12 PM with the headline "7-footer among USC men’s basketball official visitors this weekend."