Two years ago, everyone under the sun, myself included, predicted a difficult entry for Lamont Paris into SEC Basketball. We were largely correct. South Carolina didn’t have the dubious claim of being the worst team in the league, but they did secure the league’s worst KenPom rating by around 70 spots.
Without the NBA talent of G.G. Jackson heading into last season, Carolina’s prospects were grim again. The Gamecocks were picked last by just about everyone, including most analytics services (except for Kenpom, which projected a top-70 finish but was still in the bottom four of the league).