The South Carolina men’s basketball season officially begins Tuesday.

It’s a practice coming 43 days before the first game, yes, but the mere thought of the session was enough to get Frank Martin’s juices flowing Monday morning.

“Here. We. Go,” the USC coach tweeted at 11:13 a.m. Martin went on to list reasons for optimism surrounding the 2018-19 Gamecocks, among them the shot at a fifth consecutive winning season and the return of SEC defensive player of the year Chris Silva.

“I know I’m excited,” Martin concluded. “I hope [sic] gamecock nation is 2.”

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