Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] On this episode of Cox talking Game. Cox, the baseball team gets a big series win on the road, and Lamont Parris finds himself a point guard. Okay, here we go.
[00:00:54] Okay. Welcome to episode 239 of Cox talking Gamecocks. I am your host, Tim Cox, where I will keep every episode from 1801 to 2001 and hope you all had a great weekend out there. Gamecocks was a nice weekend. Had the Kentucky Derby. What a race. What an absolute fantastic race that was. Derby day. Derby Day gets the people going, doesn't it? Like, even if you're really not that all into it, you kind of know you're going to go somewhere to watch the race. Some people really get into it. They dress up and things like that. You get to drink mint juleps and try to act a little fancy and things like that. Everyone tries to pretend to be an expert with horse racing when, like, no one really ever is.
[00:01:44] And then if you have the incredible fortune to go, you're at what is really just an incredible, incredible event. Then you had Cinco de Mayo, you know, have a nice little margarita tacos, things of that nature. So, yeah, really was a great weekend to kick off May here, you know, spring is here. Spring has sprung. Absolutely love it. And then, of course, there was lots of action around Gamecock nation going on. So, all in all, hope y'all had a fantastic weekend and are ready to take on this week here. Let's have a week, y'all. Let's have a week. Let's lock in, get in a groove, and just have a week. Got a nice episode for y'all here. Might be on the shorter side today. Not a ton of stuff to go over here, but let's start with a weekend recap and then see where that takes us, shall we? So, got a couple scores for y'all here. Starting off on Friday, the softball team lost to Mizzou to nothing. And then men's tennis, they beat old Dominion for nothing. I actually believe that's, you know, post season tournament here. And then Saturday, softball lost to Missouri again, this time to the score of four to two. Women's tennis, they lost to old Dominion four to three. And men's tennis, they beat NC State four three. And then Sunday, unfortunately, softball lost to Mizzou five to two. So tough weekend for the softball team there. Men's tennis, though, had a nice showing. And all in all, still so much respect and love to our student athletes there. But it's kind of funny, you know, really, in that time of year where things are winding down. There was graduation this past weekend. Shout out to all recent grads and the video when a cocky graduates wearing the yellow feet like that just never gets old. You absolutely love to see that. But yeah, congrats to all the new graduates. Enjoy this fun time there and forever. To the but outside of the scores here, there was a little bit of news that came out from the men's basketball team this weekend. Big news actually, as Lamont Parris has finally found his point guard for next season out of the transfer portal. So for anyone who wasn't really following this along or, you know, maybe wasn't that close to the comings and goings of the roster and things like that for for basketball here, there were a couple of transfer portal targets that had South Carolina's interest, but none of them came to fruition.
[00:04:37] We had this gap in the roster here where Lamont Paris was trying to find a point guard and it was clear he wanted a veteran player from the portal to sort of tick some of those boxes that Talon Cooper did.
[00:04:52] You don't have to find some of that exact production, but that was sort of a key part where you brought in that veteran point guard and Talon at many times was the engine that made that team go. So there was interest, there was visits and things like that, and none of it really beared any fruit until now. As Jamari Thomas has committed to the Gamecocks. Now Jamari is coming from Norfolk State where he was the MIAC player of the year. Really coming off a breakout season this past season is Jamari. So getting a guy who may be growing into his own a little bit here, had that breakout season, is he ready to take that next step? Lamont Paris believes that he can. And Paris was actually able to flip Jamari. He was previously committed to VCU. So I kind of like that. This is like my galaxy brain take on this thing here. Like, he was good enough for VCU to extend the offer and he was good enough to commit to VCU, which has a good basketball team. They are a basketball school that's a good conference. So that staff over there evaluated him and felt he was ready to take that step. Lamont Parrish looked at him, said the same thing, and you're able to sway him over to come to the SEC. Now, Jamari averaged 16.9 points per game, 3.8 rebounds per game and 3.8 assists per game, and averaged about 40% shooting from the floor. So this is a very high level of production here. It is a extremely competent and really the exact level of production. Lamont Paris was hoping to find from that veteran point guard to lead the squad next year. Lamont has talked about he likes guys who can do a couple of different things here. That point average, you know, again, he was the MEAC player of the year, breakout season, maybe coming to the SEC and you have some other playmakers on the team, though that number might dip a little bit. That's sort of my gut feeling here. But 3.8 rebounds, basically four assists per game, that was the similar level of production that Talon Cooper had coming into South Carolina. There's going to be games where it's more. There's going to be games where it's less. But it's a guy that knows how to play the position and obviously he can score, which you love to see has a high shooting percentage. And now with his commitment, you can look at this roster for men's basketball and next year. This is a roster that is deep, it's experienced, and really there is that great foundation of guys who understand Lamont Paris's system and SEC play. But you also have the pairing along with some of that, with some exciting young players who will be seeing some significant playing time. So very exciting commitment here. This is, this is really rounding out that roster. And you know, Lamont has said time and again his goal is to build a sustainable program and his work in the portal this year, along with his recruiting efforts this past year or two, really have shown what that will probably continue to look like for this program. I think he's utilizing the portal how it should be where you had that core group of guys that were retained, for lack of a better word, CMB Zach Davis. Right. Jacoby Wright, Morris Yugosluk. Right. And then you had some of these younger guys, Austin Herro and things like that. But you bring in some veterans to plug in holes in your roster from the portal. But you have this foundation of guys who understand your program, your understand your culture, and they can maybe bring some of these other guys along in that respect. You know, you obviously bring in a guy like Jamari Thomas, Nick Pringle for their skills, what they bring on the court, and of course you're hoping they bring a little bit of leadership as well. But I think it's fantastic to have that core group of guys who have been brought up in that culture, in that locker room and can sort of say, hey, this is how we do things here. Or when coach says this, he's really saying that things like that, and I think that's really important. And then you look at the young guys, too, who are going to be there. And high ceilings. So we got a long way to go until next basketball season, but it's incredibly encouraging to see Lamont Paris continuing to put in work, not staying satisfied. And, you know, maybe, just maybe, there's a chance where we can see the Gamecocks back in the big dance.
[00:10:11] Like, could it be back to back years like that? That just would feel amazing. It shouldn't be that out of the realm of possibility, but very, very cool. But shout out to Lamont Paris here. He is really, absolutely giving his all and setting up this team for success here, but changing gears here a little bit. Talking about games that were actually being played here, talking the baseball team here, the yard Cox were on the road this past weekend to the fake Columbia out in Missouri Como to take on the Tigers, who, you know, Mizzou has been struggling. Talked about that last episode right at the bottom of the east.
[00:10:56] Haven't really had much success lately. So going out on the road, trying to keep the momentum up, and that really was the mission for the Gamecocks this weekend, was to keep up that momentum that they had against a top team in the division in Kentucky. But the question was, can you do it on the road? And the boys did just that, winning two games out in Missouri and winning the series here. So let me recap these games for y'all real quick here. Game one, South Carolina got the w ten two. So really coming out of the gates just the way that you would like to, seeing that high offensive production right away. But despite Mizzou taking the lead in the second inning in this one, Carolina bounced right back and tacked on runs consistently, including five runs in the 8th inning here. But as much as we can talk about the offense here, this game really was a shout out to the pitching staff as the Gamecocks combined for 17 strikeouts and shut down Missouri. After that second inning, the Gamecocks saw their veteran leaders paving the way for the win. You had Messina Lecroy both having big nights at the plate. Roman Kimball got the start and a no decision. It was ty good who actually got the win here in relief, going four innings with one hit and seven strikeouts. Incredibly impressive performance there. Garrett Ganey, Parker Milat and Tyler Dean also saw action out of the bullpen. Some player highlights from this game. Coleman, two for four, five RBI talmage. Lee Croix, three for five with two ribies, and then Ethan Petry, one for four with one RBI.
[00:12:50] Game two, South Carolina would drop eight to three. Not going to spend a whole lot of time on this one. Who wants to do that? But Mizzou put up a four spot in the first inning and never really looked back. Gamecocks put up some runs late in the game, but by that time it really was too little too late. The damage was basically done. Eli Jones got the start and loss going. Two and two thirds innings allowed five runs. Player highlights from this game, two for two with, sorry, Cole Messina went two for two with one RBI and Gavin Cassis one for four with one rbI. Which brings us to game three Sunday, the rubber match, and Carolina got the win going, winning nine to four. Carolina rallied big time in this one. Things were maybe not looking so hot for the first several innings here, but rallied big time in the last three innings of this one to cut get the come from behind when Gamecocks were trailing four to one going into the 7th. And then the guys would go on to play three runs in the 7th, three in the 8th, and two in the 9th. This was really that gutsy win for this group to get a huge series win on the road. And look, I don't care that Missouri has struggled this year, okay? I understand that they're right at the bottom of the division. They've been on losing streaks. They haven't had a good showing in a month against an SEC team. But winning on the road in the SEC is an accomplishment. And this team in particular this year has had some ups and downs on the road. So if you're able to go to someone else's house in a weird place like Columbia, Missouri and get a series win, that is absolutely an accomplishment that needs to be celebrated. And it's big for this team, right? It's big for this team nonetheless here. If you haven't seen it, go on and watch Austin Brindling's grand slam saving catch. It was a serious sports center top ten material out of this game here. Dylan askew started the game and got a no decision. Conor McCreary got the win after two and two thirds innings in a very, very strong relief showing. Chris Veech got the save as well. Player highlights from the rubber match Dalton Reeves went two for five with one RBI, Blake Jackson went three for four, and Ethan Petrie went one for two with two RBI. But again, this was a big series win for the Gamecocks, who are now sitting at 13 sEC wins with two conference series still remaining. Regular season is quickly wrapping up, though. But this team, in the two wins in this series here, you saw that very strong offense, some clutch hitting along with very strong pitching, especially out of the bullpen and they really just went out to como and kicked butt like they really did. Game two sort of got away from the team. That's okay, you know.
[00:16:13] Sucks to see it slip away. A sweep would have been incredible. But again, on the road, it is to be somewhat expected that it's going to be tough and the home team is going to fight. And that's what you saw in the second game. And the boys responded the right way in game three.
[00:16:30] But up next for the Gamecocks is the final midweek game of the year. Can't believe it. It is weird, you know, I mean, we still got a lot of baseball ahead of us, you know, hopefully. But see that regular season wrapping up, it is pretty crazy here, but the guys will be taking on Winthrop up in Rock Hill. When these teams met earlier in the year, Carolina really had their way with Winthrop, so hopefully we see a little bit more of that. Would love to see the strong pitching continue for this group. But then it's funny, the guys turn around quickly, take on Georgia at home. That series actually starts Thursday night, so just a quick, quick turnaround here, Georgia. It's an interesting series because they are also sitting at 13 and eleven in league play and so this series really should be ultra competitive. I'll get into a little bit more next episode, but it is funny where the game will basically have started by the time I'm recording. So we're in that in between period here. But my summary is that this is a prime spot. This series against Georgia here is a fantastic spot for the Gamecocks to try and hit that 15 wins, that benchmark of 15 league wins. You have the opportunity to do so at home, which is very, very critical. It's a team that has a similar record to you. You should be able to play with them and hang with them. You will need the offense to stay hot like it has been and continue to find help out of the bullpen here. But big week. Big week for the Gamecocks here. So get ready. But that wraps up this episode, y'all. Please follow me on social media, Twitter or X is Cox Gamecocks. Instagram is just the name of the show. Cox talking Gamecocks. And please, like subscribe and review the podcast. I appreciate all y'all. Go Cox.
