Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] On this episode of Cox Talking Game Cox, the baseball team looks to carry momentum to the road. Basketball adds a big man and the football team adds a pair of transfers. Okay, here we go.
[00:00:54] Okay. Welcome to to episode 238 of Cox Talking Gamecocks. I am your host, Tim Cox, where I will keep every episode from 1801 to 2001. And I missed y'all. I missed y'all, man. I was out traveling out west, was out in Vegas, and it's good to be back. Let's just, let's just say I hope that I will eventually catch up on sleep, but always feels good to get back to your routine and get back to here. The show talking Gamecocks with y'all, man, I love it. So sorry for the change of schedule and missing Monday's episode, but we are good to go and glad to be back here. But before I jump into things here, just a quick but huge, huge shout out to all the gamecocks that have had their NFL dreams come true. And especially big shoutouts to Xavier Leggette, Spencer Rattler, Marcellus Dial and Nick Gargiulo, who all got drafted. We've seen others, including a Marion Brown and Tyree Johnson, sign undrafted free agents, two teams, but really, really, just incredible.
[00:02:16] That was one of the things that I was a little sad to not be able to report on missing Monday show, but was incredible to see all the amazing accomplishments that these guys have come, have come to see, right? So very, very cool. And Spencer Rattler, steel of the draft. Any gamecocks fan knows that he fell entirely way too far. And the Saints really, really got a good one. Derek Carr, better watch your back, bro. Better watch your back here. But let's jump into things here. Got some news scores and everything like that to go over with y'all. But this week in review, I mean, I, I missed a hell of a few days. Like, I picked a hell of a time to go away because it seemed like there were lots of exciting updates going on. I mean, of course I still got my phone on me, talking to buddies, checking social media and things like that, but it's just not the same. You know, it wasn't quite as locked in, so was really cool to catch up and on everything and just sit down and be like, wow, it was really an exciting past week or so in Gamecock Nation, but let's start with the only score from the mid week here. This came from Wednesday, and softball beat USC upstate five nothing. So way to go, ladies. That's a nice showing there. But the real headline grabbing news came from over the last few days here. Now, bear with me if some of this is a little old for you, but I want to talk about it. So my name on the show and, you know, we'll, we'll go over some, we'll relive some high news together so it'll be fun. But the great news came as we had two programs reach into the transfer portal and make significant moves, starting with the men's basketball program as they really made waves here, Lamont Parris was able to land Alabama transfer center Nick Pringle. So now we got two pringles on the football. You have one on the football team and one on the basketball team. We are right on our way to a full pack of pringles here, but Nick Pringle is listed at six foot ten. If you watch the tournament at all, you will have known he was playing very well in the tides run to the Final Four this past season. He averaged 6.8 points and five rebounds, his most effective season yet in college, getting better and better and better.
[00:04:53] Nick is originally from South Carolina, so it's a bit of a homecoming, and Lamont Paris really fills a position of need in the process. Also, really cool side note here of just how well Lamont Paris has done with bringing guys back home to the state of South Carolina from other programs. And then we talked about it in his high school recruiting. We're keeping top talent from South Carolina in the state. That's something that has eluded this program for some time now. And Lamont Paris seems to be correcting that because there's a lot of good talent in and around the state of South Carolina. So really cool to see Pringle come back home. In my opinion, Pringle will bring a new level of physicality to that five spot that was really lacking at times this past season. He's got the size, he's got the experience, and pairing him with CNB is just going to make a fantastic duo. And then you add into the mix a developmental project in big man Jordan Butler, who Lamont Paris added already. You'll remember the big man, Adam Mizzou. So all of a sudden you have three bigs who each can really hold their own. Butler is a guy who maybe his production wasn't there, but you saw some flashes. I think he can come off the bench and develop his skills well. You're going to have a starting four, five of CMB and Nick Pringle. They complement each other absolutely well. And one of those guys even can lead a unit here. This is just a big, big pickup for the Gamecocks, and I don't expect them to be done, as I'm sure Lamont Paris wants to bring in a veteran point guard as well. So look for another name to potentially come through for this program here. But Nick Pringle was a top, top target for Lamont Paris, and to see him land that commitment is incredibly impressive, and it's just what you need to do. You know, you're, you know, you lose a guy in BJ Mac who was incredibly productive, but you bring in Nick Pringle, who has a little bit of a different skillset, maybe more than a little different, actually. But he's going to give you that size and that veteran know how and that physicality that you really needed at the five spot in more minutes than what Josh Gray had previously given you. So welcome home, Nick Pringle. That's a huge, huge pickup there. But then the next piece of transfer portal news came from the football team as Shane Beamer put his head down and once again went to work in the transfer portal to fix a need. The team brought in a pair of wide receivers to bring depth and size to a group that, frankly, needed it. So the first player brought in was Van Drievus Jacobs, and he is coming in from Florida State. But first off, fantastic name, fantastic name, top five name. That's always a plus when you bring in a kid. Jacobs is an interesting prospect here. He only played one year at FSU, recording just three catches for 60 yards and one touchdown. But his ceiling is what's really exciting. It's incredibly high. He was a very sought after wide receiver, and he was incredibly productive in high school. One of the top production guys from what I've seen in the state of Florida, which is incredible. So this feels like more of a depth addition for this year, but someone who, you know, could give you a pleasant surprise here and there. But given some coaching, he really could turn into someone who can provide productive seasons in Columbia. So bringing a guy from the transfer portal, I don't want to call it a diamond in the rough, because he's coming from Florida State. He was highly sought after coming out of high school, but someone who could really blossom well beyond what you saw his lone year at Florida State. I mean, it was his freshman year. I mean, three catches and a touchdown, that ratio is fantastic. 20 yards a pop each. So he's got the moves, he's got the speed. Probably just needs a little bit of coaching, but who knows? Maybe he's someone who jumps off the page and thrives in this system this upcoming season. But the second receiver brought in from the transfer portal was Dalvin Campbell out of Nevada. So my previous neck of the woods for the last couple of days, but Dalvin is bringing in some much needed size as he is listed at six foot four inches. Each year at Nevada, his numbers improved. Last year. He recorded 31 receptions for 594 yards and two touchdowns. Again each year getting better and better. So not eye popping numbers there, right? But he comes in having played a lot of college football in a halfway decent conference. So he's bringing in some veteran maturity to the group, but also bringing that large frame that really was missing from this group outside of Nic harbor. So you look at that and it's a nice piece there to add. And once again, you know, we see Shane Beamer acting very deliberately in the transfer portal to address an area of need with players who should serve distinct purposes. Right. Van Drievus feels like a guy who you bring in and you say, maybe it's a little depth piece right now, but he's a guy that could blossom to have a lot of catches, right? But right now you needed a little bit more depth, a guy who is a little bit more experienced. He fills that need. Then the other need, probably the bigger need, was you needed someone with some more size because there wasn't a whole lot of that from top to bottom in this room, again, out of harbor. So you bring in a guy like Dalvin Campbell and he fills that need as well because after the spring game, the wide receiver room was probably most people's biggest concern. And while there isn't still that bona fide wide receiver one, there's certainly a group of guys that can be productive and get the job done, get them coached up, get them acclimated with the system, let that offensive line gel go into this year, into the fall camp rather healthy.
[00:11:32] Name Lenoris, QB one at some point, and let's let the chips fall where they may. But Shane Beamer knew he needed to fill out his wide receiver group a little bit more, and that's exactly what he did. Bringing in one guy that's played a lot of college ball, I believe that's, you know, Dalvin Campbell, he only has one year of eligibility, I believe, and then another guy who has that high ceiling, you know, that, that you bring in and it's almost like a second recruit, right? He just played one, one season. So pretty happy with that, with the transfers and very happy with the job Lamont Paris did in the transfer portal as well. But let's talk to games that are actually being played here, talking baseball here. And yeah, maybe my secret for this team is just to not talk about them because last weekend when I was out of town, the boys had a huge series win against Kentucky and are now sitting at eleven wins at the start of May. Excuse me, eleven SEC wins.
[00:12:33] Would certainly hope we have more than eleven wins at the start of May. So eleven SEC wins again. Kentucky was right at top of the division. Take two out of three from them. That was very, very impressive. But this week the boys were in action in what, what was the final midweek game at Founders park. How about that? The season really is winding down here, the regular season, of course, and things went all the right ways for the boys in this one as the Yardcocks got the w to go do 30 wins on the year, beating East Tennessee State 15 to two. A run rule game. Things were just. Things were just popping for the boys. You absolutely love to see it. South Carolina had consistent offense, obviously, when you score 15 runs, but it was four runs in the first and eight in the fourth that were just these massive innings that really were just the difference maker. Cole Messina had a big game. Kennedy Jones had a big game. Petry had a blast. Gavin Cass has had a nice game.
[00:13:43] This lineup looked really good and kept up high offensive output following the Kentucky series, the guys were able to put up a lot of runs against one of the top teams and that momentum and the good vibes carried over into this game as well. Jake McCoy got the start and the win. In this game. You had several bullpen pitchers follow him. Player highlights here. Kennedy Jones, two for three with four rbI, Gavin Cassis, two for three with two ribies, and then Cole Messina, two for three with three rbI.
[00:14:23] Now up next for the Gamecocks is a weekend series at Missouri. This is in como. What a weird place. But Mizzou is currently last in the SEC east. They are sitting at 20 and 26 overall and just six and 15 in league play. So certainly not the most impressive records. At a glance, their best showing came pretty much a month ago to the date in early April when they swept Florida.
[00:14:57] Was sort of interesting. At the time. Mizzou was just sort of mid. Florida was really, you know, doing really well. Now you look back on it and you think, what the heck happened in that series? But that's, that's baseball for you, am I right? So they had a good showing about a month ago and they've been struggling pretty much ever since. Now, of course, with this series being on the road it will come with some natural challenges, but if you remember correctly, the last road series that South Carolina had in the SEC actually went pretty darn well as the guys took two out of three from Florida in Gainesville. So the guys will need to bring that same intensity and focus that they had then. Earlier in the year, this team was struggling on the road. It's tough to win on the road in general in college athletics, but the guys were able to bring something nice the last time they did that. So let's do that once more. The weekend rotation, say it the same here. Friday you had Roman Kimball, Saturday Eli Jones, and Sunday TBA. Now, my crow to the series here is really jump on the Missouri starters early. So when you look at this team, the Tigers, from the look of it, they don't really have that lockdown anything on their pitching staff. Like there, there wasn't this bona fide ace, there wasn't this incredible closer. You know, there's a couple guys with some impressive numbers for sure, but especially from an era standpoint, nobody was head and shoulders above the rest, right? So if the guys can jump on their starters early by the end of the series, the Tigers will hopefully really be at the end of their bullpen and hopefully demoralized a good bit there. So our offense can really feast. I mean, right now, offensively, this lineup is really clicking on all cylinders. And when you look at a guy like Reeves or Kennedy Jones, right, Blake Jackson, like there are guys who are now contributing a little bit more than they were earlier in the year, at least on a consistent basis. And that's able to help some of these stall worth guys. Moose Petri Cassis. So things are coming together now and we sit here with, I believe it's three series left in the SEC.
[00:17:35] You have eleven league wins. Those benchmark numbers that you look for in win totals, you know, league wins and things like that certainly feel attainable. You're starting to see some bracketology and mock brackets for regionals come out. South Carolina, excuse me, South Carolina is very much in the mix in all these things, you know, potential hosting in some of these scenarios that you see drawn up. So it's a funny, fickle season. It's a funny, fickle game where there have been inconsistencies with this team. There's been some games that were lackluster performances. But it's a long season and when you look at it at the end of the day, the Gamecocks are still in pretty good shape and this lineup can carry this team to certain degrees, and then you again back half of the bullpen does well. You just need your starters to do just enough. So let's go on the road and let's have a nice showing and really make this a nice stretch of a couple of weeks here. But let's go. But with that, y'all. That wraps up this episode. Please follow me on social media. Twitter x is Cox. Gamecocks. Instagram is just the name of the show. Cox talking Game Cox. And please, like, subscribe and review the podcast. I appreciate all y'all. Go, Cox.
