It is that time of year again where the transfer portal reshapes every roster in America for better or for worse. Through addition, and sometimes through subtraction, every team attempts to improve their roster to better compete within their conference and on the national scene. The South Carolina Gamecocks are no different. They have seen their fair share of departures but have also been aggressive in adding key pieces to next season’s squad. It raises the question, with all of these new faces, how will South Carolina’s identity change next season?

South Carolina has seen departures from Meechie Johnson, Josh Gray, Stephen Clark, and Ebrima Dibba to the portal as well as from BJ Mack, and Ta’Lon Cooper to graduation. In total, that is 3 starters gone from last season’s team. With glaring holes in the roster, the Gamecocks took to the portal and added key pieces including Jordan Butler, Nick Pringle, and Jamarii Thomas. Joining the haul of portal players is one of the nation’s best high school players, Cam Scott.

I think with the additions so far, there has been a clear goal for Lamont Paris this offseason: to get quicker. 

Last season, the Gamecocks ranked 351st in pace of play according to Kenpom, but regardless of what ranking system you look at, they were one of the slowest teams in terms of tempo. There is nothing inherently wrong with this style, but in several losses last season, including the one to Oregon in the NCAA tournament, the slow pace cost them a chance to win.

The offense was not built to come from behind when down big and it also struggled to win shootouts. Sure, we saw the occasional performance where the offense clicked such as the win against Kentucky last season, but in most instances, the Gamecocks wanted to play slow. In the event that their defense could not keep the game at their desired pace, the offense struggled to keep up.

Looking at who they’re adding, I expect the Gamecocks to play with a quicker pace and higher sense of urgency on the offensive side of the ball. 

Cam Scott is a smooth scorer both off the ball and with it in his hands. Nick Pringle’s numbers from a season ago are low, he still played for one of the fastest offenses in the country which demonstrates his ability to run the court at 6 '10". Jamarii Thomas, the MEAC player of the year a season ago,  averaged over 16 ppg and shot 40% from the floor and 38% from 3. Add in returning players like Myles Stute, Jacobi Wright, and Zachary Davis, the Gamecocks will have plenty of guards and players built to run.

Also, they will have several players capable of creating their own shot. This was not exactly the case last season as they relied on a system offense to create open looks. Similar to having a slow offensive tempo, there is nothing wrong with having a system offense, but in crunch time, it pays to have a player or two capable of getting a bucket at will. I think they will have a few different scoring options who are more than capable of generating offense at will which won’t require them to go deep into the shot clock every possession.

I think defense will still be the focal point for Lamont Paris next season, so I don’t expect the offense to attempt to be one of the fastest in the nation. It has been seen too often the detriment an intentionally fast, run-and-gun offensive approach has on the team’s defense. That said, as stated previously, playing too slow can hurt a team in certain scenarios. 

Every team has a speed they prefer to play, but the elite programs are capable of playing at various tempos depending on how the game unfolds. Defensively, I expect the Gamecocks to be one of the SEC’s best yet again. Offensively, I feel that they will look to push the tempo a bit more and attack from multiple positions on the floor.