South Carolina Basketball: A big player from Palmetto State enters the transfer portal.
South Carolina basketball coach Lamont Paris presently has two scholarships available for play in the transfer portal, and after a massively successful second season at the leadership of the Gamecock program, he has two glaring spots of need on his squad that he will address in
With Ta’Lon Cooper’s graduation, USC is looking for a point guard who can do it all for the garnet and black. Cooper served as a consistent facilitator and efficient outside shooter on offense, as well as an above-average defender and rebounder for his position. The Gamecocks may not need that specific type of point guard next year (though it would be nice), but whatever Coach Paris recruits must be able to distribute the basketball.
The other position of requirement is in the center. Josh Gray is now the only true center on the squad, as well as the tallest player at 6’9″. The Gamecocks need some floor-stretching down low to replace BJ Mack’s role last season, but if SEC All-Freshman Collin Murray-Boyles starts knocking down shots as expected, the new transfer portal center doesn’t have to be a shooter as long as he can impact the game with size and length.
The Gamecocks had been linked to many players at each position (most notably, guard Dakota Leffew of Mount Saint Mary’s and center Nick Pringle of Alabama), but on Friday evening, Missouri Tigers center Jordan Butler entered the transfer portal.
Butler is an intriguing addition to the Gamecock squad if Lamont Paris decides to recruit him. He is from South Carolina and stands 7’0″ tall, with a great wingspan. As a freshman at Mizzou, he averaged nearly one block per game in under 11 minutes. He can also shoot the basketball, but he struggled with it when playing for the Tigers.
Butler’s parents have strong ties to South Carolina beyond the fact that they live there. His father, John, is the head coach of Christ Church Episcopal School, a top smaller high school basketball program in the state. His mother, Casie, played basketball for the South Carolina basketball program and is a die-hard Gamecock fan.
Butler, a former 4-star prospect, will have three years of eligibility left at his new school.
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