The University of South Carolina men’s basketball team will host Kentucky Wesleyan tonight at the Colonial Life Arena. This is the fourth straight season that Horn, a Kentucky native, and the Gamecocks have hosted the Panthers, a Division II opponent, from Owensboro, Kentucky. The game tips off at seven o’clock on the SportsSouth television network.
Horn has not named a starting lineup and only features one senior, Malik Cooke, on his team. This is a pivotal season for Coach Horn after experiencing a very bumpy off-season with the conclusion of his third year.
Coach Horn welcomes back only 10 scholarship players and seven returning lettermen that do not include two freshman, Shooting Guard Damien Leonard (Greenville, SC) and Power Forward Anthony Gill (Charlotte, NC). Carolina was the worst shooting team in the SEC last season and Horn’s hope is that Leonard will supply some relief to the long-range droughts that USC often experienced from behind the three-point arc. The other freshman, Gill, will bring some size and strength to the Gamecocks interior defense, which at times last season was a sore spot, especially in the defensive rebounding category. Another new contributor to this year’s team is junior college player, Brenton Williams. Horn has stated that Williams is an explosive scorer and will really boost the shooting skills of this year’s group of long-range bombers.
It will be interesting to see which player Horn starts at the Point Guard position. With last year’s starter, Bruce Ellington, now on the football team, Horn has experimented with 6’5” junior Lakeem Jackson running the offense during preseason drills. The other point guard option is sophomore Eric Smith, who is less than six feet tall and not near the physical presence that Jackson would bring to the backcourt.
The front court personnel will probably feature a combination of two sophomores, Damontre Harris & R.J. Slawson, and senior captain Malik Cooke. Cooke and Harris both suffered injuries during the offseason, but, according to Coach Horn, all personnel will be available tonight for duty. The other frontcourt player is redshirt freshman Carlton Geathers. Horn has stated that Geathers is beginning to demonstrate a better understanding of the commitment level that is required to play in the SEC through Geathers’ conditioning.
The Gamecocks open November 11th, Friday night, at the CLA, Colonial Life Arena, versus Western Carolina. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
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