South Carolina was projected to finish last in the Southeastern Conference by the preseason media poll, but the Gamecocks aren’t thinking about that as they begin the new season Tuesday against Stetson in Columbia, S.C.
“It’s completely irrelevant to me,” South Carolina coach Lamont Paris said. “My approach as a coach and the amount of film I watch and the amount of time I spend in preparing and all those things and my staff are all going to be the same.
“However, it can be a motivating factor to our players. And on the day that we need it the most … I’ll remind them what some people, who probably have never seen them practice, certainly not as a group, have never seen them practice as a group have prejudged them based on what they did at the school that they were at before.”
Following the exit of leading scorer Meechie Johnson Jr., South Carolina revamped its roster with the additions of four-star freshman Marcus Johnson, a cousin of Meechie, and transfer guard Kory Mincy. Mincy was 11th in the Atlantic 10 Conference in scoring last season, averaging 14.3 points per game on a career-best 38.9% shooting from 3-point range.
South Carolina hopes the new additions will boost an offense that struggled in 2025-26. Last season, South Carolina finished last in the SEC in scoring (74.9 points per game), field goal percentage (43.4%) and 3-point percentage (31.1%).
Stetson is opening the season with a back-to-back, having lost 85-72 at Clemson on Monday despite outscoring the Tigers 48-36 in the second half.
“We are excited about the challenge in front of us,” coach Donnie Jones said of Stetson’s schedule in a news release. “It will be one of the toughest nonconference schedules in college basketball, but we see that as an opportunity to grow, test ourselves and prepare for what we know will be another demanding ASUN season.”
Collin Kuhl paced the Hatters with 20 points against Clemson, and Magnus Entenmann contributed 16 points.
Stetson finished 12-21 last season, but it hung with preseason No. 1 Florida in an exhibition game in October, trailing by just two points at halftime before falling 85-68.
The Hatters will rely more on Kuhl (13.1 points, 6.3 rebounds last year) following the transfers of guards Jamie Phillips Jr. and Ethan Copeland. Kuhl, who led the conference in shooting at 65.6%, was named preseason Atlantic Sun Player of the Year.
Stetson also hopes to make the most out of their possessions on offense. Last season, the Hatters led the Atlantic Sun in turnovers at 12.5 per game, but they gave the ball away only nine times on Monday.