Welcome back to Columbia. South Carolina basketball starts their new season at home against North Florida.
After months of waiting and offseason predictions, college basketball is back. Monday night, South Carolina hosts ASUN member North Florida in both teams’ first game action of the season.
General Information:
Teams: South Carolina (0-0) vs. North Florida (0-0)
Tip-Off Time: 7 p.m. EST
Watch: SECN+/ESPN+
Listen: 107.5 The Game
What to Know About North Florida:
Headed by Matthew Driscoll (who has been in Jacksonville longer than any SEC coach has been at their respective schools), the Eagles finished 5th in the Atlantic Sun last season with a 16-16 overall record. In the offseason, however, they lost 2023-24 All-A-Sun guard Chaz Lanier, who averaged 19.7 PPG last year, best on the team. Also gone is Dorian James, who averaged 10.1 PPG while starting all 32 games for the Ospreys.
The good news is that two double-digit scorers return to the A-Sun’s 5th-ranked offense. Former State College of Florida product Ametri Moss (10.8 PPG) returns after missing the second half of last season due to injury. Nate Lliteras (10.4 PPG) is entering his sixth and final year playing college basketball as he returns for an encore.
In all, five of seven players with 14+ starts last season return, with guards Jaylen Smith (16 starts) and Oscar Berry (14 starts) coming back, along with wing Jasai Miles (19 starts). Four transfer additions are also joining the fold, with Kamrin Oriol (15.5 PPG at NAIA The Master’s University), Alex Vargo (26.7 PPG at JUCO Garrett College), Liam Murphy (9.9 PPG at Columbia), and Nestor Dyachok (9.3 PPG at Southern Utah) transferring in to Jacksonville.
Of those four, Vargo and Dyachok have the best chance of earning starting roles out the gate. Vargo especially, who spent time at Youngstown State prior, is a very good player than will help the Ospreys fill the offensive void left by Lanier.
To round out the Ospreys roster, five fledgling freshmen are leaving the nest for their first taste of college basketball. Dante Oliver (IMG Academy), Arden Begaj (Bill Crothers), Josh Harris (Pembroke Pines Charter), redshirt freshman Mason Lee (Providence High), and walk-on Taylor Thompson (Impact Christian Academy) will all provide reserve depth for North Florida.
North Florida was selected 7th of 12 teams in both the A-Sun preseason media and coaches polls, indicating an expected small step back after the departure of Lanier.
Latest on South Carolina basketball
The Gamecocks defeated Wooster (Lamont Paris’s alma mater) in an exhibition last week, 86-60. Collin Murray-Boyles had his first (and invariably not the last) double-double of the season with a 19-point, 11-rebound performance, while highly-touted freshman Cam Scott scored 16 points on 5-12 shooting and six rebounds.
Also in double figures was redshirt freshman Arden Conyers, who was 4-5 from deep in a 16-point effort, and Jacobi Wright, who scored 10 and led the Gamecocks with five assists. All four Gamecocks who scored 10+ points were Carolina natives, and South Carolina basketball has seven scholarship players from the Palmetto State in all.
After securing their first trip to the NCAA Tournament since the 2017 Final Four appearance, the Gamecocks faltered against a red-hot Oregon, losing 87-73 to the Ducks in the first round.
In the South Carolina basketball preview, the author suggested a projected starting five of Norfolk State transfer Jamarii Thomas at the one, Scott at the two, physical wing Zachary Davis at the three, possible lottery pick Collin Murray-Boyles at the four, and Alabama transfer Nick Pringle at the five. That’s a group of five that’s nothing to hang your head about, a pretty solid core. Add in Conyers, Wright, and three-point specialist Myles Stute, and the top eight players on this team are certainly capable of starting at most places in the Power Five.
Dealing with eligibility concerns with the NCAA, presumptive freshman addition Okku Federiko is not currently on the listed roster, adding to a problem with depth in the frontcourt if CMB and Nick Pringle are out of the game. Missouri transfer Jordan Butler and reserve forward Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk are the only other true big men on the roster, meaning the 4-5 rotation is something to watch going forward.