Three key Gamecocks to watch as Frank Martin’s squad heads to Asheville Championship
The competition is about to heat up.
Coming off a 78-60 season-opening home win over USC Upstate, the South Carolina men’s basketball team is heading to Asheville, North Carolina for the inaugural Asheville Championship this weekend.
Frank Martin’s team will take on Princeton at 9:30 p.m. Friday at Harrah’s Cherokee Center-Asheville and then will face either Western Kentucky or Minnesota on Sunday night.
With nine new players, USC is still establishing an identity and working through rotations. Here are three players to pay close attention to this weekend.
Ta’Quan Woodley, forward
While fellow freshmen Devin Carter and Jacobi Wright drew most of the buzz throughout the offseason, it’s notable that freshman forward Ta’Quan Woodley was the first player off the bench for the Gamecocks on Tuesday night.
A 6-foot-8, 280-pound big man from Camden, New Jersey, Woodley came to Columbia somewhat out of shape after COVID-19 cancellations wiped out much of his senior high school season. Woodley also missed practice time in recent weeks due to a strep throat bug that affected a few players on the team.
But Martin liked what he saw from Woodley in the practices leading up to Tuesday’s opener, and the 55-year-old coach plugged him in against the Spartans early.
Woodley made an instant impact, collecting an offensive rebound and a second-chance basket, and he finished the night with five boards and eight points on 4-of-5 shooting. With veteran transfer forward A.J. Wilson expected back this weekend after missing Game 1 due to a lower back injury, it’s possible Woodley doesn’t see the same volume (13 minutes) he saw against USC Upstate.
But Martin likes what he sees in the young player.
“He came back and had really good practices leading into the game,” Martin said. “He’s really good offensively. He’s always been the guy that defends the other team’s big guy, and he’s got to learn how to defend on the perimeter.
“Most freshmen struggle with the defensive side of the floor, and that’s where he’s struggling right now. But he’s a really good player.”
Josh Gray, forward
It’ll be hard not to keep an eye on Josh Gray, a 7-foot, 255-pound sophomore transfer from LSU who stands out on the court due to sheer size alone.
With junior Wildens Leveque reprising his role as the team’s starting center, Gray drew the start at power forward against USC Upstate and tallied eight points and eight rebounds in 26 minutes. A first-half alley-oop and second-half breakaway dunk electrified the Gamecocks bench and the stands at Colonial Life Arena, and it’s easy to dream on Gray’s potential with his massive frame and physicality.
Still, Martin had similar critiques about Gray as he did about Woodley in his debut, saying he struggled to defend on the perimeter. Martin added that he’d like for Gray to play stronger inside and take advantage of his size more than he did on Tuesday night.
Erik Stevenson, guard
Tuesday was a rough shooting night for Erik Stevenson, a transfer from Washington who has quickly established himself as one of the team’s veteran leaders.
Though he stuffed the stat sheet with three blocks, three steals and six rebounds, he shot just 3-for-13 from the field and missed his first six 3-point attempts before sinking one late in the contest. Martin pulled Stevenson from the game after he made that 3-pointer, saying he wanted him to leave the game on a confident note.
Martin and the coaching staff certainly have confidence in Stevenson from the way they talked about him leading up to the season. They expect Stevenson, Wright and fellow transfers James Reese and Chico Carter Jr. to fortify the team’s perimeter shooting.
Shots didn’t go in against USC Upstate, with the Gamecocks making just four of 19 attempts from the 3-point line. But Martin said he expects those shots to fall through the cylinder most nights and believes in the team’s new shooters.
What TV channel for USC’s men’s basketball game
Who: South Carolina vs Princeton
When: 9:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Harrah’s Cherokee Center-Asheville in Asheville, North Carolina
Watch: ESPNEWS
This story was originally published November 12, 2021 at 8:00 AM with the headline "Three key Gamecocks to watch as Frank Martin’s squad heads to Asheville Championship."
