It’s ironic that nearly four years ago the University of South Carolina played the ultimate April Fool’s Day on its fan base. On April 1, 2008, USC Athletics Director Eric Hyman made the first, most significant coaching hire at South Carolina since he arrived from Texas Christian University, TCU, in 2005. At this press conference, A.D. Hyman introduced to Gamecocks Nation a young, energetic, up-and-coming head coach from Western Kentucky University named Darrin Horn. Horn had just completed the most successful season at his alma mater with a surprising run to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Basketball Tournament.
Horn was a polar opposite of former USC Head Basketball Coach Dave Odom. Odom was longer in the tooth, played a brand of basketball (half-court offense versus 94 feet of helter-skelter) that was not resonating with fans in the Colonial Life Arena and, most importantly, was not the most enthusiastic recruiter when it came to the AAU basketball circuit where a lot of the top high school talent is mined these days by college coaches.
Recruiting was the first chord that Horn chimed in during his introductory press conference. The Tom Crean disciple (Horn coached under current Indiana Head Coach Tom Crean at Marquette University) said, “The key to being a great coach is being a great recruiter.” Gamecocks’ fans clamored for a young, energizer-bunny head coach that could open doors for Carolina amongst the AAU hotbeds (Atlanta or Charlotte), where successful college basketball coaches feed their programs annually. Unfortunately, Darrin Horn burnt the recruiting bridge to Atlanta within a few weeks on the job, when he told former Dave Odom recruit, Darius Morrow (now at East Carolina University), that he could come to USC, but he would not play a lot of minutes. Horn’s abrasive attitude rubbed several high school coaches in the Atlanta Metro area the wrong way and subsequently USC has been black-balled from the Atlanta AAU circuit since the incident.
So with Atlanta out of the picture as far as a recruiting territory for South Carolina, the Gamecocks coaching staff turned their attention north of the border and within the Palmetto state’s borders. Horn has targeted prospects in North and South Carolina and has had some degree of success signing a total of nine players.
“Another great thing is that we have talent in this state. Let me tell you about my recruiting philosophy. We are going to start on the inside and work our way out. We've done that everywhere I've ever been, and it's led to great success. There is talent in this state. We are going to put a fence up around the state of South Carolina, and the best players in the state are going to be recruited to play at the University of South Carolina,” said Horn back at his introductory press conference at USC.
Since Horn arrived at South Carolina, he has done a decent job of keeping the top Palmetto state talent within our state’s borders. In four recruiting cycles at USC, Coach Horn has signed two of the state’s top home grown talents. In 2010, Horn signed point guard Bruce Ellington, four-star prospect, out of Berkeley High School in Moncks Corner, and then last year the Gamecocks inked shooting guard Damien Leonard, four-star prospect, out of J.L. Mann High School in Greenville. Horn and his staff have signed a total of six basketball prospects from South Carolina: Ellington (2010), Leonard (2011), Johndre Jefferson, JUCO transfer, (2009/graduated last year), Eric Smith, three-star prospect, (2010), R.J. Slawson, three-star prospect, (2010) and Carlton Geathers, three-star prospect, (2010).
The only prospect that has had any degree of impact on the basketball program is sophomore Bruce Ellington, who, during his freshman season, averaged just over 14 points a game. This year Ellington split time between football and basketball and understandably his progression on the hardwood has been stunted this year, because he is not concentrating solely on basketball. The Moncks Corner native has participated in ten basketball games this season and is averaging 11 points/game, while in 17 games freshman SG Damien Leonard is averaging 6.6 points/game. Ellington is the second highest scorer on the team behind senior forward Malik Cooke. Leonard is amongst the top four scorers on the team so far this season.
The other three Palmetto state players on the Gamecocks roster are collectively averaging 12.4 points/game this season. All three players are currently role players off the bench.
Since Horn’s arrival at USC, he has signed a total of 13 players. His first class consisted of four players:
Lakeem Jackson (Jr): three-star prospect (North Carolina); very limited offensive player & poor shooter
Ramon Galloway: three-star prospect (Florida); transferred to LaSalle last year & averaging 15 pts/game
Stephen Spinella: three-star prospect (New Jersey); transferred to Monmouth last year; no longer playing
Johndre Jefferson: JUCO transfer/(Lake Marion, SC): played two years; graduated last year
→Not one single member of Horn’s first recruiting class made a significant impact on the USC basketball program. IMHO, not a single player improved under Horn’s coaching and only one player remains on the team - Jackson!
Horn’s second recruiting class was full of Palmetto state players. He signed six players in 2010:
Bruce Ellington (Soph): four-star prospect (South Carolina); face of the program; starting point guard
R.J. Slawson (Soph): three-star prospect (South Carolina); role player off the bench; decent sixth man
Eric Smith (Soph): three-star prospect (South Carolina); role player; backup point guard
Damontre Harris (Soph): four-star prospect (North Carolina); developing as a decent SEC post player
Carlton Geathers (Rfresh): three-star prospect (South Carolina); below-marginal SEC big man; project
Brian Richardson (Soph): three-star prospect (North Carolina); spot-up shooter; limited offensive skills
→Horn’s second recruiting class is the core of Horn’s basketball product and more than likely will be his downfall since not a single player has drastically improved in year two under Horn’s guidance.
Horn’s third recruiting class included three players in 2011:
Damien Leonard (Fr): four-star prospect (South Carolina); 3-pt shooter, limited shot maker off the dribble
Anthony Gill (Fr.): three-star prospect (North Carolina); skilled big man; high basketball “IQ”
Brenton Williams (JUCO/Jr): three-star prospect (Florida/JUCO); injuries have led to little impact so far
→Horn’s third class has two highly skilled players in Leonard and Gill. Both players were highly recruited and hopefully will improve as the year progresses. Williams was a lightly recruited player out of a Florida Junior College and has missed more than half of the games due to injury.
Horn’s fourth recruiting class is a nice “bookend” to his first class and on paper devoid of talent as a black cloud hovers around the men’s basketball program:
Tyrone Haughton: three-star prospect (Florida); decent low post player on defense but will need extensive coaching at the next level
→Remember, Horn had two Florida prospects, Ian Baker & Carlos Morris, de-commit because of Horn’s uncertainty as the head coach of South Carolina post-2012 season.
Horn is toxic in recruiting circles due to his tumultuous tenure at USC since the end of the 2011 season, when multiple players walked away from the program for multiple reasons. Recruiting is the life blood of any college program and the lack of difference makers on the court at the Colonial Life Arena has created apathy in the fan base and coined the label Colonial Life-“less” Arena. The recruiting evaluations of Coach Horn have been his own worst nemesis in four years at the helm of USC basketball. The future is bleak concerning USC basketball and with the current talent on the roster; recruiting has been a huge part of the disastrous recipe since Horn arrived in Columbia. The apathy of the fan base is apparent when you see the games on television and the crowds are so sparse that it is embarrassing to even be seen by a national audience.
I guess the joke will be on USC if Horn is allowed to continue to patrol the sidelines at the CLA after this season.
SPURspective’s Note: I will run a three-part series on the state of USC basketball under Darrin Horn: Recruiting, Win/Loss Record and Future Replacements,
Go Gamecocks!
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