JUCO guard Hassani Gravett commits to Frank Martin, Gamecocks

South Carolina basketball coach Frank Martin added a fourth member to his 2016 recruiting class Monday with a commitment from guard Hassani Gravett.

Gravett is a 6-foot-2 native of Villa Rica, Ga., who played this past season at Pensacola State College in Florida. He took an official visit to USC over the weekend and made his pledge to the Gamecocks Monday morning.

Gravett plans to sign his letter of intent at a ceremony at his school in the near future. He chose the Gamecocks over West Virginia, East Carolina and Georgia State and will have three years of eligibility.

“Through the process of recruiting I had a tough time deciding which school I wanted to go to, but after visiting and talking to the coach more and more I felt the most comfortable at South Carolina, so I think I made the best decision possible,” Gravett said. “I felt the family-oriented environment. I really liked the players and coaches. Coach Frank Martin reminds me a lot of my coach here at Pensacola State and I really enjoyed it here. Me being under Frank now, he’s basically the same person and I wouldn’t want to play for any other guy.”

Gravett was the Georgia 4A Player of the Year as a senior. This season at Pensacola State, he was named the Panhandle Conference Player of the Year despite being limited to just 12 games because of a pair high ankle sprains. He still averaged 16 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists per game while shooting 41 percent from the floor, 39 percent from three-point range and 86 percent from the line.

“There’s so much to like,” said Pensacola State coach Pete Pena. “He’s a good ball handler, a good shooter, he’s very competitive and he works hard every day in practice. He runs off ball screens but is quick enough to create his own shot.”

In his conversations with Martin, Gravett got the picture that there’s a need for him in the program with the chance for immediate contribution.

“He told me this year they really struggled at the point guard spot playing guys out of position,” Gravett said. “He’s bringing me in because I’m a point guard. I feel comfortable at that position. They didn’t really do a lot of pick and roll action not having a point guard, and now that I’m going to come in that will just add to their style of play.”

And that should include hitting the three ball with consistency. In one of his high school games, Gravett recalls knocking down eight shots from long distance.

“I can definitely shoot the ball,” he said. “I grew up a pass-first point guard. I have the ability to go score if I need to, but I have a great court vision. I look to set guys up but if I need to go get a bucket I can.”

USC marks the third commitment for Gravett in his recruiting journey. He originally committed to Gardner-Webb and briefly attended Hargrave Prep in Virginia and Louisiana-Lafayette before landing at Pensacola.

This story was originally published April 18, 2016 at 8:52 PM with the headline "JUCO guard Hassani Gravett commits to Frank Martin, Gamecocks."